


Timeless

by joytiny, staylovely



Series: Timeless [1]
Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Angst, Complete, Confessions, Cute, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Falling In Love, Flirting, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Gryffindor!Jongho, Gryffindor!Wooyoung, Hufflepuff!Hongjoong, Hufflepuff!Yunho, Humor, Implied Sexual Content, Kissing, Love, M/M, Mutual Pining, Mystery, No Smut, Post-Battle of Hogwarts, Pre-Relationship, Ravenclaw!Seonghwa, Ravenclaw!Yeosang, Relationship(s), Romance, Slytherin!Mingi, Slytherin!San, Suspense, Swearing, Sweet, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-16
Updated: 2020-09-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:01:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 115,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23164399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joytiny/pseuds/joytiny, https://archiveofourown.org/users/staylovely/pseuds/staylovely
Summary: BOOK I: Hours of AnguishEverything is going perfectly in San’s life. He’s popular, he’s confident, he’s attractive, and he knows it. Even the relationship with his almost-boyfriend Wooyoung couldn’t go any better. At least until a dark turn of events completely throws his life as he knows it out of balance. Legilimency, prophecies, time turners… Who could’ve thought what started as a harmless birthday party would turn into a deadly race against time? And most importantly, who’s going to make it out alive?[currently editing!]
Relationships: Choi Jongho/Kang Yeosang, Choi San/Jung Wooyoung, Jeong Yunho/Song Mingi, Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa
Series: Timeless [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1665127
Comments: 49
Kudos: 168





	1. Saturday, November 26th

**Saturday, November 26th. 12:38 PM. Hogwarts, Fifth Floor. Choi San.**

“No, no, no. Move it a tad bit more to the left,” San directed Yeosang and Jongho as they struggled to properly position the huge banner. They had enchanted it to spell out “ _Happy Birthday!_ ” in flamboyantly blinking letters. Fastening it to the timber beams that branched out into the ceiling on each side of the large window apparently proved to be a harder task than originally anticipated. “No, too much. Go back. Just a little though.” Balancing dangerously on the makeshift wooden ladders, Yeosang and Jongho tried their best to follow San’s instructions. “Stop! That’s perfect!”

“Finally,” groaned Yeosang. Having received San’s approval, he and Jongho climbed down their respective ladders and high-fived.

San took a few steps back and admired their work. He couldn’t contain his pleased grin. He’d roped in all of Wooyoung’s closest friends to arrange the perfect party room, and after all this time they invested in decorating the former Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, it looked nothing like the dusty chamber they’d started with. It had everything a birthday boy like Wooyoung could have possibly wished for.

Long violet curtains covered the windows and filtered out the daylight, while the lilac fairy lights that floated a few inches above the ground provided a dim mood lighting. The walls held more enchanted banners that flashed birthday wishes or moving pictures of Wooyoung and his friends, and the ceiling sported a big sparkling disco ball that beautifully reflected the magical party glow lights, enchanted to float around the room like fireflies. And, of course, the cherry on top was the huge snack buffet they had constructed in front of the old blackboard - which was also covered in doodles and handwritten birthday messages from everyone, by the way.

San, Mingi, and Jongho had carried the majority of the shabby desks and chairs to one of the neighboring classrooms. The remaining furniture made use for the snack buffet and all-you-can-drink table, stacked with an abundance of Firewhiskey shots, Pumpkin Juice Cocktails (spiked with Firewhiskey), Butterbeer (the alcoholic kind), and a handful of non-alcoholic refreshments. The highlight of the snack buffet was the huge chocolate fountain placed in the middle, surrounded by hundreds of packages of Chocolate Frogs, two large bowls of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans (Mingi had spent hours sorting out only the Cherry and Cinnamon ones), Cauldron Cakes, Exploding Bon-Bons, Fizzing Whizzbees - all of Wooyoung’s favorite snacks.

They had even asked Park Seonghwa, an overbearing seventh-year and Ravenclaw prefect for the third year in a row, to enchant the ceiling for them. It now displayed the sky outside, making it look like there was no ceiling at all, simply open on to the heaven. It was barely noon, so it only showed the gray winter sky and the few white clouds that surrounded the castle, but it would hopefully show a stunning starry night sky once they got the party going. Naturally, they hadn’t told Seonghwa about the party. Being the killjoy he was, he probably would’ve found some kind of school regulation that would allow him to shut it down before it even happened.

San’s eyes scanned the room, holding out for any unfulfilled tasks. “Mingi, how far are you with the snack buffet?” he asked his fellow Slytherin and best friend. He'd just finished filling up the chocolate fountain.

“Done,” Mingi replied with a grin and gave him a thumbs up. He let his wand glide back into the pocket of his denim jeans.

San grinned back, then he turned to Yeosang. “What about Changbin? Is he back from Hogsmeade yet?”

Yeosang added a small box Yeonjun had just brought in to the huge pyramid of presents and checked his wristwatch. “He should be back with the cake any minute now.”

San nodded, more to himself than to Yeosang, and skimmed over the checklist in his hand one final time. Exhausted, he let himself plop down on one of the chairs by the pyramid of presents. “I think we might be done, guys.”

The others gave a cheer, equally as relieved as San. Mingi grabbed a chair of his own and took a seat beside him. “Does that mean everything is perfect for your boyfriend’s big birthday bash, Mr. Choi?” he teased.

San scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest. “Wooyoung’s not my boyfriend,” he pointed out, grinning. He wasn’t fooling anyone.

“Yet.” Mingi nudged San’s side. “You literally call him _babe_.”

Jongho whistled and stole one of the Cauldron Cakes from the snack buffet. “Sounds like something a boyfriend would do.”

Yeosang was quick to appear by Jongho's side to ask for a bite. He joined in on the teasing as soon as he’d received it. “Let’s not forget about those “chivalrous” hand kisses you give him all the time. They make Wooyoung swoon for _hours_ , which would be cute if I didn’t have to listen to all of it.”

Jongho nodded. “Not to mention your countless dates he tells me about. In detail. Every damn night.” His words were muffled by the cake in his mouth. He took another bite from it, handed it to Yeosang, and moved on to grab a Chocolate Frog.

“Yeah dude.” Mingi laughed. “You’re romancing him like there’s no tomorrow. I can’t believe the two of you aren’t together yet.”

“Oh, shut up.” San rolled his eyes, not even trying to contain his grin anymore. “We haven’t even kissed yet.” It was true. Well, kind of. Aside from occasional pecks on the cheek, hand, or forehead, they hadn’t _properly_ kissed yet. It wasn’t that San didn’t want to, of course. He was simply waiting for the perfect moment.

To be fair, it made sense that most people thought San and Wooyoung were boyfriends. They did all the things a couple would do; they spent every minute they had together, they went on dates every week, they held hands in public, they constantly flirted with each other, and they both knew that they liked each other. And yet, they hadn’t really talked about what exactly they were. Sure, one could say that they didn’t need to have that talk to be boyfriends, but San wanted to officially ask him when the time was right. That's the way San had been raised. His father had taught him to always be a gentleman and romance his way into the heart of the person he loved.

And _boy_ did he love Wooyoung. The mere thought of him made his heart race. It was ridiculous, really. Whenever their eyes met, he felt like time came to a standstill. Words couldn't describe the lengths he would go to just to see Wooyoung smile. God, he would give Wooyoung the whole damn world if he could. At the same time, he didn’t want to rush things. They were young. They had all the time in the world, and San wanted everything to be perfect. He wanted Wooyoung to be his last.

A fond smile played at San's lips. “I just want it to be special when I officially ask him to be mine,” he concluded. As soon as the words had left his mouth, Yeosang broke into a laughing fit, and Jongho gripped onto his shoulder and pretended to vomit.

Mingi slid off his chair and dropped to the floor, scrambling to bring distance between himself and San. “How the hell does Wooyoung put up with this cheesiness?”

San rolled his eyes at their overreaction and rose from his seat. They were so dramatic.

Yeonjun walked back into the room and glanced at the clock above the blackboard. He was accompanied by Changbin who balanced the cake he'd picked up in Hogsmeade, the little magical village near the castle. Neatly coated in delicious-looking white cream and colorful heart-shaped streusels, the two-story birthday cake sat on a round purple pedestal. It even had candles in the shape of the number seventeen planted on top of it. San smiled. Good to see the cake had been worth the extra galleons he had paid that bakery to make it perfect. “Sorry to interrupt, Romeo,” said Yeonjun, “but if you wanna catch Wooyoung at lunch we should probably get going right about now.”

San's heartbeat picked up with excitement. Yeonjun didn’t need to tell him twice. They all grabbed their belongings, left the classroom, and filed down the Great Stairs, bound for the Great Hall. On the way there, San had to listen to his friends' endless teasing about his obvious display of nervousness. _Stay cool, San. Be natural._ He'd never been this nervous about anything before. He was a confident, popular, and - dare he say - pretty attractive guy. Usually other people were the ones to get nervous at the thought of San. Yet, he hadn’t even seen Wooyoung and he already felt butterflies in his stomach. Hell, even his palms grew sweaty. He and the others had been planning this surprise party for over a week and he couldn’t wait to finally see Wooyoung’s reaction. San took a deep breath when they reached the entrance hall. Once they’d pushed past the heavy doors, he immediately spotted him.

Wooyoung sat at the Gryffindor table by himself, nursing a glass of pumpkin juice. He wore his chocolate brown hair slightly messy, his bangs falling into his face to halt just above his eyes. Since it was the weekend and many students preferred to wear muggle clothing outside of class, his outfit consisted of his scarlet red Chudley Cannons hoodie, a black pair of jeans, and the golden specs he always wore when he was too lazy to use contacts. His attention lay on the Daily Prophet he’d placed next to his plate. If San had to guess, he’d say he was skimming the sports pages and Quidditch-related articles, as those were the only news that interested him. Beside his French toast and pumpkin juice, he also had a cup of coffee – a weird combination San knew Wooyoung loved.

San tore his eyes from him before his friends had a chance to tease him for staring. Instead, he raked a hand through his black hair and turned to Yeosang, Mingi, and Jongho. “Alright. You guys go ahead and distract him while I light the candles.”

They mock-saluted and took off, chuckling mischievously. Meanwhile, San drew his wand and muttered, “ _Incendio._ ” Miniscule flames spilled from the tip of his wand, and he used them to ignite the candles on Wooyoung’s cake. Once both were alight, San carefully took the cake from Changbin’s hands. Taking one last deep breath in an attempt to ease his nervousness, he approached the Gryffindor table.

Luckily, the Gryffindor table was on the far left of the Great Hall and Wooyoung sat with his back facing the entrance and the three other tables. That way, San had no trouble sneaking up to him unnoticed. Besides, Wooyoung was distracted by whatever joke Yeosang was telling him anyway. San grinned excitedly to himself and lifted the cake over Wooyoung’s head, setting it down on the table in front of him. Wooyoung gasped and slapped his hands over his mouth in surprise, then his friends as well as a bunch of other students nearby broke out in cheers, loudly roaring a rather off-tune rendition of a birthday song.

“Oh my god!”

Satisfied with his success, San snuck his arms around Wooyoung from behind. He pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Happy birthday, babe.”

Wooyoung smiled into the round, clasped his hands together to make a wish, and blew out his candles. There it was. That pure and bright smile of his that San could never get enough of. It was like he illuminated the entire hall solely with his presence. Wooyoung rose from his seat and pulled San into a tight hug. San even lifted him off his feet for a moment as the excitement overwhelmed him. The first surprise event of the day had played out just as planned.

Wooyoung released him, beaming. “This was all your idea?” He was ravishingly beautiful. His gentle features radiated a joy so pure it infected everyone around him. Perhaps his smile could cure the world’s most horrible diseases. It took a great chunk of San’s willpower to resist the urge kiss him in front of the entire school.

Instead, he nodded proudly in response. “I did receive a lot of help though. What do you think?”

“Are you crazy? I love it!” Wooyoung rewarded San by returning his kiss on the cheek before he faced his friends again. “Thank you so much, everyone.”

The students that had gathered around to see what the commotion was about soon began to disperse. San soon took a seat on the wooden bench next to Wooyoung. Five minutes later, the group was happily eating and chatting together. San, Mingi, and Yeonjun dove into Wooyoung’s birthday cake, Yeosang and Jongho gushed about how they’d been the ones to choose the color of streusels on it, while Changbin pointed out that he’d been the one to pick it up from the bakery, arguing that it wouldn’t even be here without him. Wooyoung chuckled at their playful bickering and secured a piece for himself. San stole one arm around his shoulders, pulling him into his chest. His free hand rested on his thigh.

San could tell that Wooyoung had the time of his life, surrounded by all the people he loved. During their meal, many students from the other side of the Great Hall approached their table to deliver their birthday wishes as well. Some even had presents. Wooyoung had always been popular around Hogwarts, which wasn’t very shocking. He was sweet, funny, sarcastic, cute, outgoing – the prime example of a social butterfly. It always warmed San’s heart to see him be the center of attention. Wooyoung was the sun of his own little solar system.

After they'd finished their meals, the others left the Great Hall under the pretense of returning to their common rooms or going to the library to do homework or meet up with other friends. Wooyoung thanked them for the surprise and fondly watched them leave. He'd believed them of course, but San knew better. He knew that they all headed back to the former Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom to get the music and atmosphere ready for the surprise party. San’s job was to distract Wooyoung for the next few hours until they were done.

The two of them left as well and scaled the Great Stairs all the way up to the seventh floor. They settled down on one of the stone benches in the deserted corridor near the Room of Requirement. Placed in front of a large window, this bench granted them a beautiful view of the snow-covered grounds that surrounded the castle. No matter how beautiful the view, however, San's attention belonged solely to Wooyoung. He’d lain down beside San on the bench, letting his head rest in his lap. He happily told him all about the letters and birthday wishes he’d woken up to this morning. San studied him with a smile as he listened. Winter sunlight falling through the window caught Wooyoung's eyes and brought out the chestnut glints within them. It illuminated him and gave his hair a beautiful golden shine, which only made it that much harder for San to resist the urge to just take him to his bedroom right away.

“I’m so happy,” he confessed. He’d finished reciting the sweet birthday cards he had gotten from his parents and his favorite uncle Stephan. He reached up to let his fingers graze San’s cheek. His lips looked so soft and inviting. “Happy that I get to spend this day with you.”

San played with Wooyoung’s hair. “Always at your service, darling.”

“So, what’s next?”

“Whatever it is that you want.” San simply needed to keep him busy until he had to take him to his surprise party. There were no limitations as to how he was going to do that.

Wooyoung narrowed his eyes at him, suspicious for only a moment, then he was smiling again. “I don’t know what your mysterious surprise is but I’m actually fine staying here like this until it’s happening.”

“As you wish,” San replied. His eyes never left Wooyoung’s as he stroked his hair. San could stare at Wooyoung for hours and never get tired of the feelings he sparked in him. Something about the way his nose scrunched up and his cheeks became round when he smiled made San feel all woozy inside. Several moments of silence passed as they basked in each other’s presence, getting lost in their own little world. San was first to speak up again eventually. “How do you feel now that you’re finally seventeen? What do you want to do?”

Wooyoung hummed in thought. “I’d say I feel the same so far. But…” His smile transformed into a grin. “Now that I’m officially of age, there are a lot of things I want to do.”

“Yeah? What kind of things?”

“Oh, you know. Adult things.” Wooyoung’s tone was suggestive. He even had the audacity to bite his lip. Those damned soft pink lips. San had a good idea of what kind of adult things he meant and was certainly not opposed to the idea of acting upon them.

“That’s your first thought? What a bad boy you are.”

“Am I really?” Wooyoung didn’t always show it, but he was just as much of a flirt as San was. He chuckled mischievously and played with the emerald green Slytherin tie San wore. He’d put on an innocent pout, but the suggestive tone still lingered in his voice when he spoke. “When do I finally get to...unwrap my present?” He tugged lightly at the tie. “I swear I’ll be good.”

“Be careful what you wish for.” San smirked. His voice had dropped to a whisper. “If you play with fire you might just get burned.”

“If I don’t get burned,” Wooyoung whispered back, “then what’s the point of playing?”

His grip on the tie tightened when he began to pull San down towards his lips. Wooyoung’s eyes fluttered shut as he moved his other hand around San’s neck and drew him even closer. The tension between them was so thick you could practically cut it with a knife. San could feel Wooyoung’s breath graze his skin. He could smell the delicate scent of chocolate and cinnamon that always surrounded Wooyoung. _God_ , they were so damn close San’s head was spinning. Their lips almost touched. He wanted nothing more than to give in and finally close that damn distance between them. It took every last bit of his self-control to resist him. In a great show of self-control, he pulled away and only kissed the tip of Wooyoung’s nose.

Wooyoung gave a displeased groan and San chuckled. “Not yet, baby. You’ll have to be patient until tonight.”

“You’re such a damn tease sometimes, you know that?” Wooyoung opened his eyes. He didn’t sound accusing, and San knew that he wasn’t mad, but he could tell that Wooyoung had wanted it as much as he did.

“What can I say. I love taking you to the edge.”

“Meanie. At least give me one hint about what the surprise is,” Wooyoung demanded. When San pretended to think about it, he began to play with the tie again. He knew exactly well what he was doing. “Pretty please?”

San grinned. “Purple.”

Wooyoung stared blankly at him, expecting him to elaborate. “That’s it? Oh come on,” he whined, “that could mean anything!”

San only laughed. Wooyoung was too cute for his own good. He continued trying to guess what the surprise might be - some guesses more inappropriate than others - but San didn’t give in.

Eventually, they became bored of sitting around on the bench and got up to aimlessly stroll through the castle. It may not have been the most exciting thing they could’ve killed their time with, but neither of them minded. They had an amazing time just talking, joking around, and being themselves. Wooyoung was so full of positive energy and easy to talk to, San often forgot about everything else. Not to mention that Wooyoung’s hand fit perfectly in his.

Walking through the castle like this reminded San of how much he loved Hogwarts. Surrounded by its extensive school grounds that included sloping lawns, flowerbeds, vegetable patches, several greenhouses and other outbuildings, a large dense forest, a loch, and a full-size Quidditch pitch, this castle was the most beautiful place he knew. Torches graced the stone walls and lightened the cobbled walls that held heavy wooden doors and ancient decorative banners. Gargoyles, stone benches, and armor stands occupied every niche of its high towers and vast dungeons. It was almost tangible, the magic pulsing through its corridors. Countless rooms and chambers, magical creatures of all kinds hiding away in the darkest corners, hidden passageways guarded by bookshelves and portraits; it was so grand that nobody could possibly discover all the secrets the castle held. Not even the headmistress. It was a home to hundreds of students, divided into the four houses of its founders – Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin.

San had been sorted into Slytherin, the house of the resourceful, cunning, and determined, and Wooyoung was a Gryffindor, brave, daring and courageous. Hufflepuffs were patient, tolerant, and loyal, while Ravenclaws were known to be creative, intelligent, and witty. Gryffindor and Slytherin used to dislike each other because of some stupid rivalry that traced back to Roman times, but nobody really cared about that anymore. Only a handful of students still held on to that ancient sentiment, but it was by far not as important as it had been a few decades ago. And even if it had been, nothing could keep San away from Wooyoung at this point.

About an hour later, he led Wooyoung toward his common room so he could get ready before the party – which he still had no idea about. Wooyoung happily swung their intertwined hands back and forth as they scaled the Great Stairs on their way to the Gryffindor Tower. “This is already the best birthday ever.”

“I’m glad you think so.” San smiled. “But we haven’t even gotten to the best part yet.”

“What are we doing here?” They had come to a halt in front of the Fat Lady, the portrait that concealed the entrance to the Gryffindor Common Room. Wooyoung gasped, his eyes wide with realization. “Is it finally time for the surprise?”

“Almost,” replied San. “First I need you to head inside and get ready for it.” He pressed a kiss to Wooyoung’s hand. “Change into something cute. The dress code is purple.”

A faint blush painted Wooyoung’s cheeks, but his eyes sparkled with excitement. He showed his riveting smile. “Give me five minutes.”

He turned to tell the Fat Lady, the portrait that guarded the entrance to the Gryffindor Common Room, the password. The portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall that Wooyoung promptly climbed through. San waited outside. He took the opportunity to remove the Slytherin tie he wore with his white button-up and black skinny jeans. He rummaged through his bag to replace it with a purple one since he needed to follow said dress code as well, of course. He made sure it hung loosely around his neck, then he ran a hand through his hair to mess it up a little, make himself look more party appropriate. Once he was done, he decided to chat with the Fat Lady.

She immediately began to complain about her friend Violet trying to set her up with Sir Cadogan and his fat pony. San flashed her a charming smile and told her that Sir Cadogan would be lucky to go out with her, which seemed to delight her. Her rant came to an end when Wooyoung returned and climbed back through the portrait hole. He’d put on a plain white shirt and a purple cardigan, along with a pair of straight-cut denim jeans and white shoes. He hadn’t taken off his glasses, which only added to his cute and casual outfit. He was enchanting.

“You look amazing, baby.” The compliment earned San a coy smile. He knew how much Wooyoung liked those nicknames, though he would probably never admit to it.

Wooyoung cheekily gave San a once-over. “Right back at you.”

“I only changed my tie.”

“I don’t know,” said Wooyoung and pressed a brief kiss to San’s cheek, “it’s doing something for me.”

San chuckled. “Let’s go.

“Where?”

“You’ll find out soon enough.” San’s vague answers made Wooyoung sulk, though he didn’t resist when San covered his eyes with his hands. “I’ll take you there. Keep your eyes closed for me?”

He giggled excitedly. “Okay.”

San led him further out of the Gryffindor Tower and through a corridor on the fifth floor. They pushed past a bunch of former classrooms and storage rooms. Wooyoung continuously asked when they would finally arrive, visibly growing more and more impatient with each step. It was adorable to watch. Two minutes later, they stood outside the former Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Wooyoung’s excitement was contagious.

“Are you ready?” San asked one last time. His hands still covered Wooyoung’s eyes.

“I’ve been ready for hours! Just show me already.”

“Alright. Don’t open your eyes, yet,” he said. “I’ll lead you through this door in front of us. After I count to three, you can open your eyes.” Wooyoung replied with an exited squeal. San opened the door and led him into the room. Everyone who’d helped San prepare the decorations - plus about fifty other friends of Wooyoung’s - stood inside. Nobody made a single sound, though the anticipation was written on their faces. San gave them a grateful nod and spoke into Wooyoung’s ear, just like he had in the Great Hall. “One, two, three – ”

As soon as San removed his hands, the entire room screamed, “ _Happy Birthday, Wooyoung_!”

“Oh my god, you guys!” Wooyoung laughed as his friends cheered, and San gave him a back hug. Music began to play and it didn’t take long until everyone had settled into the party atmosphere. Wooyoung was in the middle of it all, receiving more birthday wishes from all sides. He relished in the attention. San watched him from a few feet away, proud of his work.

The room was packed with people, all matching the purple dress code and decoration. The enchanted ceiling showed the clear night sky from outside, dotted with a million stars and constellations. It looked just as captivating as San had hoped. All the hard work he’d put into this party had been more than worth the bright smile Wooyoung wore right now.

As soon as everyone had spread out to talk, snack, and dance, Wooyoung returned to San, brimming with joy. He hurried over to hug him once more, a little longer this time. “You’re literally the best.”

San grinned. “What was that? I can’t hear you over the music.”

Wooyoung shook his head and gave his shoulder a light smack. “I take it back, you’re the worst,” he joked.

They were interrupted by Yeosang, who strode over to them with a huge smile on his face. He held a purple plastic cup, and his cheeks looked a little rosier than usual. San wouldn’t be surprised if he was already tipsy. Yeosang embraced Wooyoung as soon as he could get his hands on him. “Woo, happy birthday!”

“Thank you.” Wooyoung pulled away and took a better look at his best friend. “You look amazing, by the way. You really went all out for this.”

It was true. Yeosang wore a silky lilac button up and a tight pair of ink black pants. His golden-brown hair fell into his face in gentle waves that were laced with some violet highlights. Purple glitter complimented the inner corners of his eyes, and his usual brown eyes were masked by a pair of purple contacts. “Don’t I always?” he replied cheekily.

“Hey, why don’t I get us some drinks?” San asked Wooyoung. “Would you like one?”

He smiled. “Thanks, I’d love one.”

“I’ll be right back, then.” San pressed a kiss to Wooyoung’s cheek and disappeared in the crowd. As soon as he’d left, a sly grin spread across Yeosang’s face. He nudged Wooyoung’s side.

“Don’t even start,” warned Wooyoung. It was no use.

Yeosang shook his head, overflowing with excitement. “Your boyfriend went out of his way to arrange a whole surprise party for you. That’s inexplicably romantic!”

Wooyoung couldn’t hide his grin. “He’s not my boyfriend.”

“Even better!” Yeosang exclaimed. “He did all of this _knowing_ that you’re not even dating yet. What’s he gonna do when you guys _are_ dating!” Wooyoung couldn’t wait to find out. When San had first asked him out on a date, he’d thought they were merely going to be a fun little fling. He’d never imagined falling for San as hard as he had. But a dozen romantic dinner dates, sweet love letters, and a palette of cheesy one-liners later, Wooyoung had ended up completely sold. It was unbelievable that he and San had only started seeing each other less than a half a year ago. To Wooyoung, it felt like they’d known each other for an eternity. He smiled to himself at the thought. Then he realized he’d zoned out and tuned back into his best friend’s rambling. “I have to say, I may have misjudged the guy at first.”

Wooyoung laughed. “You can say that again. I haven’t forgotten how you wouldn’t shut up about how he might break my heart and how I shouldn’t trust ‘guys like him.’” He chuckled at the memory.

Yeosang raised his hands in defense. “Listen, I was just looking out for you. He could’ve been a mistake. But I admit that he seems serious about you. You two have my blessing.”

“How very merciful of you,” Wooyoung teased. Yeosang had always been the protective type. Okay, maybe even a little overprotective. Especially after what had happened between him and Corbyn. Ever since then, he’d been extra careful when it came to not only his own but Wooyoung’s love interests as well - much to Wooyoung’s dismay. He’d even gone so far as to scare some of them away by threatening to murder them if they ever did anything to hurt Wooyoung. He hadn’t been serious of course, Yeosang would never hurt a fly, but the threat alone left enough of an impression to make most guys back off. Luckily the method hadn’t worked on San.

“On that note, I can’t believe you two still aren’t official yet. How long is he going to dance around it? Everyone already thinks you two are dating.”

“We've been over this, Sangie. That’s just his style.” Wooyoung felt the need to defend San. He loved the way things were between the two of them right now. Of course, he wouldn’t have minded if San had officially asked him to be his boyfriend right away after the first few dates. Hell, Wooyoung was probably going to ask San himself soon. But he loved the way he kept their flirtatious game going. He loved the excitement of testing out the limits of that intense chemistry between them. It left him breathless and gasping for air - and Wooyoung was addicted to the feeling. Words couldn’t even begin to describe it. “He’s likes taking things slow. Like a real gentleman.”

Yeosang took a long sip of his cup. He didn’t seem entirely convinced. “I guess there is _some_ charm to it.”

“Besides, that might change very soon. If he doesn’t at least kiss me before I go to bed tonight, I’ll do it myself,” Wooyoung said confidently, which earned him another sly grin from Yeosang.

They began to move to the upbeat music that filled the room. The atmosphere was amazing. Everyone was chatting and laughing, enjoying the buffet, or dancing inappropriately close to one another. Wooyoung relished in the good mood. It fueled him.

Only about a minute later, Jongho danced up to them. He held a plastic cup just like Yeosang’s and something told Wooyoung that he wasn’t completely sober either. He acknowledged Wooyoung with a nod and snuck an arm around Yeosang’s waist, singing along to the song playing. Yeosang giggled and went along with it.

“Let’s dance!” Jongho yelled over the music. His words were directed at Yeosang rather than Wooyoung, who couldn't help but chuckled at his flustered expression. Jongho didn’t leave Yeosang much room for choice and led him to the center of the room to dance. Yeosang didn’t seem to mind too much.

Wooyoung shook his head at the two. There was no stopping his friends when it came to partying. He scanned the room for San but couldn’t spot him anywhere amongst the crowd of people. Instead, his eyes met Yunho’s, a tall and handsome Hufflepuff from the same year. Wooyoung liked him; he was smart, friendly, and he knew how to party. He wore his blond hair down and, just like San, he’d chosen to wear a purple tie to match the dress code. He smiled and made his way past a circle of dancing classmates to join Wooyoung.

“Happy birthday,” he said as soon as he arrived and gave Wooyoung a brief hug.

Wooyoung smiled and thanked him. “You made it.”

“I did.” Yunho’s smile faltered a little when he glanced at something - or rather someone - behind Wooyoung. “And so did _he_.”

Wooyoung followed his gaze to the snack buffet and found Mingi. He held a half-eaten Chocolate Frog and laughed heartily about something with Yeonjun and Changbin. A mix of stubborn anger and regret flashed in Yunho’s eyes as he watched. Wooyoung gave him an encouraging pat on the shoulder.

“Come on, give him a chance. He’s San’s best friend and a really cool guy as far as I can tell.”

“Oh, I gave him a chance alright.” Yunho’s voice sounded uncharacteristically bitter. “He didn’t want it.”

“You used to get along so well.” Wooyoung wasn’t sure what to say. He had no idea what had happened to those two. They’d been best friends for years until one day they suddenly weren’t anymore. In fact, they seemed to hate each other. Whatever had gone down between the two must’ve happened overnight because nobody seemed to know any details. Most of the time they pretended the other didn’t exist, other times they drunkenly made out at parties, then all of a sudden they were right back to loathing each other. It was incredibly confusing to observe.

Yunho’s eyes lingered on Mingi for a little longer until he managed to tear away his gaze. He directed his attention back at Wooyoung and showed a smile, though it was hardly the bright and genuine one he usually wore. “He’s whatever. Let’s not talk about him. I don’t wanna ruin your night.”

Curiosity itched within Wooyoung, but he took a hint and dropped the topic. They proceeded to chat about something more casual than their love lives - or lack thereof - and a few minutes later, a hand appeared on Wooyoung’s hip.

“Are you enjoying yourself, babe?” San said into his ear.

Wooyoung smiled and turned around to take one of the drinks he offered. “Thanks. And of course.”

San acknowledged Yunho with a nod and continued. “Ready for some drinking games?” He had it all planned out. As soon as Wooyoung had agreed to the prompt, the music was turned down a bit and everyone gathered in circles on the floor. There were far too many people for only one game, so they formed multiple circles that each played their own games.

Wooyoung ended up in the same circle as those who had helped organize the party - San, Yeosang, Yunho, Jongho, Mingi, Changbin, Yeonjun, and a few others. A bunch of Firewhiskey bottles were placed on the ground near them and the drinking games began. The first game was Never Have I Ever. A classic.

“I feel like the birthday boy should start!” Jongho exclaimed, lifting his cup into the air. He seemed remarkably tipsier than before.

Wooyoung accepted the challenge. “Never have I ever...” he tapped his chin in thought for a moment, “dated a girl.” A collective groan went through the group. Yunho grinned and put down a finger. Yeonjun and Changbin exchanged secretive glances, then they also each put down a finger. Hanbyul, their token straight friend followed. The four of them drank and the game went on. They were going clockwise, meaning it was Yeosang’s turn next.

Judging by his devious smirk, he already had his statement ready. “Never have I ever slept naked _._ ”

To everyone’s surprise, Changbin’s boyfriend Seungmin, who was usually the tamest one in their group, put his finger down. Changbin raised his eyebrow at him but Seungmin only shrugged and downed his shot. “What can I say,” he shrugged, “last summer was pretty hot.”

“Put your damn finger down, San!” Mingi roared. “We all know you sleep naked every single night!” San’s roommates Yeonjun, Changbin, and Hanbyul nodded enthusiastically.

“Come on, guys,” San complained, “it’s not _every_ night.” He put his finger down nonetheless and emptied his cup.

Yunho was next. “Never have I ever made out with somebody in the restricted section of the library.”

“Could’ve fooled me,” commented Mingi. San didn’t miss the salty undertone in his voice. Neither did Yunho apparently; he shot Mingi an icy glare. Once again, Seungmin surprised everyone by putting a finger down - along with Changbin. It seemed as though the two were wilder than San had given them credit for.

They continued to play for so long, they almost ran out of interesting ideas until Mingi dropped a bomb during his third or fourth turn. “Never have I ever performed a lap dance.” He seemed proud of himself.

Wooyoung reluctantly put down his finger and took a shot, which earned him a round of exasperated gasps. “It was a dare!” he protested when San suggestively nudged his side. If San was completely honest, he wouldn’t mind getting a taste of Wooyoung’s skills sometime in the future. He tried not to let his drunk imagination run too wild for now.

“Okay, okay, let me think of something,” said Yeonjun, still laughing. “Alright. Never have I ever made out with a stranger.”

Wooyoung, again, had to put down a finger along with San, Jongho, Youjin, and Yunho.

Mingi gasped, dramatically slapping a hand on his chest. “You animals!” he exclaimed, making the group laugh.

“Never have I ever been rejected,” San said confidently. Wooyoung pouted as he put down yet another finger. San patted Wooyoung’s thigh. “He must've been a huge idiot.”

Wooyoung giggled. It seemed as though he was slowly but surely starting to get affected by the amount of Firewhiskey shots he’d had to take. Yeosang had also put his finger down, earning an apologetic look from Youjin which he waved off unceremoniously. Yunho wasn’t spared from the punishment either. He already lifted the plastic cup to his lips when his eyes locked with Mingi’s for a moment too long.

Mingi looked away and awkwardly cleared his throat. He bitterly took a shot. “This is getting lame,” he spat. “Why don’t we move on to another game? I’ll start. Who’s most likely to have hidden tattoos?”

The others didn’t seem to mind and immediately went along with his idea, most of them pointing at Yeosang. San, however, noticed that Yunho still regarded Mingi with an unreadable expression. The tension between the two was so strong San almost choked on it.

“Me? I don’t have any tattoos though!” Yeosang protested.

“But this game is called ‘most likely’ so take a damn shot,” said San, his head back in the game.

Yeosang rolled his eyes but complied anyway. “Fine, I’m next. Who’s most likely to accidentally kill someone?” The others laughed and unanimously pointed at Jongho.

“Come on guys, I would never!” he exclaimed, already taking his shot. It took him a few seconds to come up with a question. “So, who is most likely to date two people at the same time?” Many people pointed at San, but even more people pointed at Yunho.

“Hey, I only ever date one guy at a time! I consider myself a monogamist!” he exclaimed, laughing. San wasn’t sure that was how the term worked. The others laughed and protested, but Mingi only scowled and downed another drink. Eventually, they got Yunho to accept defeat. He took his shot and continued. “Who’s most likely to get married first?”

An equal amount of fingers pointed at Wooyoung and San. They exchanged glances and wordlessly did a love shot, making the others holler. “Who’s most likely to get laid tonight?” San asked, grinning. Everyone pointed at Wooyoung without hesitation.

“Oh my god, you guys just _want_ me to get drunk!” Wooyoung exclaimed, a blush creeping onto his face. San wasn’t sure if the question or the alcohol was to blame. “Who’s most likely to become Minister of Magic one day?” Wooyoung’s obvious plan to shift the attention away from himself had backfired. All fingers pointed at him. He let himself fall back in mock frustration, laughing uncontrollably. “You guys are horrible!”

“Rules are rules, birthday boy!” Jongho said and once again raised his cup. The others soon followed his gesture and cheered until Wooyoung finally downed his shot. The questions proceeded to become more and more specific and openly targeted at Wooyoung, so the game didn’t go on for much longer. The group dispersed and went back to dancing and partying. San offered to take Wooyoung outside for a while to help him sober up a little. Wooyoung gave him a grateful look and agreed. San got him a cup of cold water from the all-you-can-drink table and the two of them stepped outside.

The corridor was rather dark. A bunch of torches on the stone wall and the moonlight that fell through the window were the only sources of light to illuminate it. Distant cheers and music served as white noise in the otherwise silent night. The cool air was refreshing; San’s buzz had already begun to fade a little. He and Wooyoung strolled past the large windows. The night view of the snow-covered Quidditch field and the distant lights coming from Hogsmeade, the magical village near Hogwarts, was gorgeous. It was impossible to not admire it.

Wooyoung’s balance was slightly off and he had to hold on to San’s arm to avoid tripping over his own feet. Despite the effort, he ended up spilling some of his water, which made both of them laugh. Tipsy Wooyoung was beyond adorable.

“Maybe you should stick to pumpkin juice for the rest of the night.”

“Maybe I should, yeah.” Wooyoung giggled. He emptied his water and smiled up at San. Moonlight spilled onto his face and set his gentle features alight. His eyes shined brighter than the stars dotting the sky and the warmth his smile triggered in San rivaled that of the sun. He was so beautiful. “Have I thanked you for making this the best day of my life yet?”

San tapped his chin and hummed, pretending to think about it. “Only about ten times maybe.”

Both of them chuckled. Then Wooyoung took his hand and came to a halt in front of the window. San turned to him and intertwined both of their hands. It was like their hands were made for each other. “I’m serious though,” said Wooyoung. “I’ve never been happier than I am right now.”

San held his gaze for several moments. Wooyoung regarded him with such undeniable sincerity and affection in his eyes, it took his breath away. San couldn’t contain his smile. “Well, in that case, I’ve accomplished my mission.”

Wooyoung’s smile brightened when San brushed a strand of hair out of his face. He pulled San a little closer, leaving less than an inch of space between them.

 _Oh boy_ , San thought. They were so close to each other again. His tipsy self didn’t have as much willpower as his sober self. Feeling Wooyoung’s warmth, taking in his sweet scent, and seeing his rosy cheeks up close made it difficult to resist the urge to kiss him. He didn’t miss the fact that Wooyoung’s gaze was directed right at his lips as well. He was too close, too beautiful, too irresistible.

San lightly tipped up Wooyoung’s chin and leaned in. Once again, Wooyoung let his eyes flutter shut and he followed San’s lead, pulling him closer until their lips finally -

“Sorry, passing through!” The sound of Changbin’s voice made them jump apart and turn to look at him. He squeezed past them as he half-guided half-carried a very drunk-looking Seungmin through the corridor. Completely oblivious to what he had interrupted, he casually bid his goodbyes to them and wished Wooyoung a happy birthday one last time. They watched him struggle to coax his stumbling boyfriend through the door at the end of the corridor. “No - baby. Your common room is that way.”

As soon as the couple had disappeared, San and Wooyoung exchanged glances and laughed. The tension between them had gone out the window, but San couldn’t find it in himself to actually be mad about it. The night was still young after all. He pressed a kiss to Wooyoung’s forehead and suggested they go back inside. Wooyoung agreed.

The party room cleared out remarkably after ten – also known as curfew. About two dozen of people returned to their respective common rooms at that time to avoid detention. For the remaining people the party was still going strong - too strong almost. Yeonjun hosted a beer pong game with a group of Gryffindors, Youjin showed off his dance moves to some Hufflepuff girls, and Yeosang danced on a table with Jongho, singing about how he had a ponytail while everyone else actively cheered them on. Well, everyone except Mingi and Yunho. Those two stood in the far corner of the room, practically engulfed in each other and attached by the lips. San sighed. He'd be happy for them if he didn’t know exactly that Mingi was going to regret this in the morning.

San and Wooyoung simply decided to dance again while chatting over the music. Wooyoung enthused about the upcoming Quidditch season and how much he looked forward to his next practice. San wasn’t much of a Quidditch fan and only played it occasionally for fun, but Wooyoung absolutely loved the sport. He was one of the Chasers on the Gryffindor Team and – in San’s unbiased opinion - their best player. San would never get tired of listening to Wooyoung talk about Quidditch as passionately as he did, even if he couldn’t always follow his thoughts jumping from one complex game strategy to another. Wooyoung interrupted his elaboration about a new technique their team captain had come up with when the DJ finally played a slow song. His face lit up with excitement.

San grinned and offered him his hand in a dramatic fashion. “Can I have this dance, Mr. Jung?”

Wooyoung chuckled and took his hand. “But of course, Mr. Choi. I’d love nothing more.” With that, he allowed San to pull him closer by the waist. Wooyoung’s arms found their way around San’s neck and they soon fell into a slow, comfortable rhythm. The world around them seemed to disappear. Wooyoung rested his head on San’s shoulder, playing gently with the locks in the back of his neck. San couldn’t believe how lucky he was to be here with him. He looked up at the enchanted sky above them, wishing that this night would never end.

He didn’t know how much time passed but it felt like they danced for hours. When the world rematerialized and San glanced around the room, only around fifteen people were left. Yunho and Mingi still clung on to each other, drunkenly belting the lyrics to whatever ballad was playing as they swayed from left to right without a care in the world. Yeonjun had fallen asleep on the snack buffet while Youjin drew inappropriate doodles on his face with chocolate from the fountain, and Hanbyul danced with his girlfriend. Jongho and Yeosang were nowhere to be seen, though San couldn’t find it in himself to care about that. He figured that they were probably just getting some fresh air, given how drunk they had been when he had last seen them. When Wooyoung almost dozed off on San’s shoulder, San decided it was time to leave. They left the classroom and made their way back to the Gryffindor Common Room.

Once they had reached the Fat Lady’s portrait, they were forced to wait a few minutes. Her frame was empty. Apparently, she’d left it to visit her friend Violet, another portrait. When she finally stumbled back into the frame, she held onto a fancy glass of red wine. Wooyoung said the password, but she didn’t pay him any mind.

“Oh San, it’s you again.” She slurred her words. “You’re so handsome. I wish you were in Gryffindor.” San and Wooyoung exchanged amused looks.

“She’s not wrong,” Wooyoung commented with a chuckle. “It wouldn’t be so bad to have you around here all the time.” A grin spread on his lips. “We’d be sharing a dorm.”

San grinned back. “I appreciate the sentiment,” he said. “But I belong in Slytherin.” It took them a while to convince the drunken Fat Lady to swing aside and let them enter as she went on and on about how a fat pony was all Sir Cadogan had to offer. Wooyoung had managed to persuade her by threatening to tell Sir Cadogan that she was actually deeply in love with him - she’d immediately let them in. They climbed through the portrait hole, unable to hold their laughter.

Even though it wasn’t allowed to enter the common room of another house, San had been here a couple of times before. It was a cozy, round room full of squashy armchairs, tables, and a bulletin board with school notices, ads, and lost posters. Everything was decorated in several shades of red, the color associated with the house. It suited Wooyoung. Vibrant, lively, and beautiful.

Wooyoung was about to cross the room to head up the winding stairs that would lead them to his dorm room, but San held him back by the wrist. Wooyoung turned to face him, confused. “Not so fast.” San chuckled and pulled a tiny box out of his pocket. He’d nearly forgotten about it. “I haven’t even given you my present yet.”

Wooyoung’s eyes widened with surprise. “There’s more? I thought the cake and the party were my presents!”

“Oh, Wooyoung. You’re so cute.” San handed him the box, white with a cute little violet bow wrapped around it. “You really believed I wouldn’t get you anything to make this day unforgettable?”

Wooyoung smiled sheepishly as he examined it. “You seriously didn’t have to…”

“Well, I can take it back then – ”

“Hold your horses, sir. Now that you already gave it to me, I might as well keep it.” Wooyoung grinned. He promptly removed the bow and opened the box. San bit his lip in anticipation as he watched him. Wooyoung’s jaw dropped. He took the silver necklace out of the box to further inspect its pendant. It was shaped like a key, bedazzled with two little diamond–looking crystals. “You’re crazy.”

“Do you like it?”

“Are you kidding? It’s perfect. I love it.” Wooyoung’s smile lit up the room. He pressed a kiss to San’s cheek and let him put the necklace on for him. It suited him as perfectly as San had hoped.

San smiled. “This necklace will always protect you,” he promised. “And so will I.”

Wooyoung opened his mouth to reply something but was interrupted by a strange noise. San jerked his head in the direction of the window, where the sound had come from. It had sounded like a muffled thud. “What was that?” asked Wooyoung.

San glanced around the room. The windows were black with darkness and the common room was empty. They were alone. He shrugged. “Probably just something outside.”

“Weird…” Wooyoung’s gaze lingered on the window for a few more seconds, his face worried. Then he shook his head and snapped out of it. He smiled once he looked back up at San.

“Five minutes until midnight,” San pointed out after a few moments of silence. The longer they held each other’s gazes, the stronger the tension between them became. “Do you have a final birthday wish I can grant you before it’s over?”

Wooyoung took a few steps forward and closed the distance between them. “Yes, actually. There’s one more thing I want to do.” And without further warning, he cupped San’s face in his hands and finally captured his lips in a kiss.

San immediately melted against his lips. Once again, he pulled Wooyoung closer by the waist, leaving not even a single inch of space between their bodies. This was nothing like the occasional pecks they’d exchanged before. It couldn’t even compare to any of the (many) kisses San had experienced in past relationships. No, this kiss was hot, hungry, and eager, yet sweet, gentle, and passionate all at once. Wooyoung’s lips were so soft and dangerously addictive, San had no clue how or why he hadn’t given in to them sooner. After weeks upon weeks of flirtation, they’d finally committed to that burning temptation San knew Wooyoung had felt too.

Wooyoung let a hand run through San’s hair, drew him in, deepened their kiss. Time had frozen completely, the common room had disappeared around them, and nothing mattered but the feeling of Wooyoung’s lips moving against his own. Wooyoung’s sweet scent took over his senses. San walked him backward until his legs stopped at one of the armchairs by the fireplace. He lifted Wooyoung onto its back, allowing him to loosely wrap his legs around San’s waist, never breaking their kiss longer than a second. Wooyoung smiled into the kiss and held on to San’s shoulders. San had no clue for how long they stayed like this. It could’ve been a few seconds, a several minutes, an hour - time was an abstract concept to San’s half-drunk mind. When they pulled away, both of them smiled like fools, their lips still only inches apart.

 _I love you_ , San thought. Words couldn’t begin to describe how badly he wanted to whisper those words against Wooyoung’s lips. But he didn’t. He was going to say it when both of them were sober, guaranteed to remember it for the rest of their lives. He’d say it when the time was right. Instead he whispered, “Happy birthday.”

Wooyoung giggled, still clinging on to San in order not to topple over the back of the armchair. When they finally managed to let go of each other, San helped him slide off it and took his hand. They climbed the winding stairs to Wooyoung’s dorm room and found it deserted. San figured Jongho and his other roommates were still at the party or spending the night somewhere else.

Wooyoung went to the bathroom to wash up and change into his pajamas, and San took a seat on his bed while he waited. When he returned, San kissed him once more before turning to leave. “Sweet dreams. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“You could also sleep here, you know.” Wooyoung suggested and tugged on San’s sleeve. “With me.”

It was a tempting offer - one that San would have definitely agreed to if Wooyoung hadn’t been half-drunk. He ran a hand through Wooyoung’s hair. “Next time, babe.”

Wooyoung gave him one last kiss. “I’ll hold you to that.”

San reluctantly left the Gryffindor Tower. Too tired to return to the party, he snuck down the Great Stairs and headed into the dungeons - careful not to get caught by any teachers or prefects - and entered his own common room. Changbin was already fast asleep when he entered the dorm room, but Mingi and Yeonjun were apparently still out. San washed up and changed out of his clothes, then he lay in his bed for several minutes, grinning up at the stone ceiling. Wooyoung’s taste still lingered on his lips. Part of him regretted that he hadn’t told Wooyoung he loved him, but the remaining alcohol in his system soon clouded his sleepy mind. They had all the time in the world. He’d find the perfect moment to tell him that and officially ask him to be his. San could no longer keep his eyes open and finally allowed sleep to take over.

.


	2. Sunday, November 27th

**Sunday, November 27th. 07:43 AM. Hogwarts, Slytherin Dorms. Choi San.**

San woke up feeling ecstatic. He rolled to his side and stretched his limbs, an idiotic grin on his lips before he’d even opened his eyes. Last night’s events came back to him one by one. Drinking games with everyone, slow dancing with Wooyoung, and finally making out with him by the fireplace…

San buried his face in his hands and let out a quiet squeal. He might have believed it to be a dream if not for the sweet sensation of Wooyoung’s lips he still felt on his own. Excitement pulsed through his veins. It felt like his very first kiss all over again, except this time it had been with his first real love. Life was beautiful. The world around him was vibrant with colors, and his skin tingled with warmth and joy. No matter what kind of trouble the world may have planned to throw at him today, San was ready to face anything head-on. Not even the headache the Firewhiskey had gifted him stood a chance to darken his mood today.

He kicked his blanket aside, pulled back the sleek emerald curtains of his bed, and jumped to his feet. He put on the pair of black sweatpants he’d left on the ground and straightened out his blanket. Wide and rectangular, the room was furnished with a bunch of beds, an ancient yet cozy armchair, a wooden desk in the far corner, and a small square fountain in its center. The absence of windows and the low ceiling produced a somewhat dingy gloom – typical for a room down in the dungeons. Torches that burned with green flames only added to the mysterious atmosphere.

San shared the shadowy room with four other sixth-year Slytherins: Mingi, Yeonjun, Changbin, and Haknyeon. They’d been his dorm mates and good friends ever since their first year at Hogwarts. To San, they were like brothers.

So far, he was the only one awake. Mingi lay sprawled across the bed to San's left, flat on his back with his lips slightly parted. Yeonjun had his face pressed against his bear-shaped pillow, Haknyeon had wrapped his entire body in his blanket, snoring heartily, and Changbin lay curled up in a ball, his curtains only half-drawn. San grabbed some fresh clothes from the luggage under his bed and tip-toed across the room to the spacious shared bathroom, careful not to wake them. After a quick shower, he wrapped a towel around his hips, slicked back his wet raven hair, and began to brush his teeth. He’d just finished when Mingi entered.

He let out a long yawn and ran a hand through his messy brown hair. Eyes half-closed, he dragged his feet as he shuffled toward the sink. San observed him in the mirror, trying not to snicker. “You good?”

“Shit, how much did I drink last night?”

“I don’t know. Enough to make out with Yunho.”

“Don’t even bring that up dude,” Mingi groaned and patted around for his toothbrush. “Let me pretend that was just a nightmare.”

Yeonjun was next to stagger into the bathroom, soon followed by Changbin. Their hair was just as wrecked as Mingi’s. San couldn’t help but chuckle at their hungover state. Not only had they had far more shots of Firewhiskey than him last night, but he'd always been superior to them when it came to alcohol tolerance.

After he’d splashed his face with water a couple of times, Changbin shot San an impish grin. “I assume you and Wooyoung got it on last night?”

“What?” spluttered Mingi, eyes wide. He almost choked on his toothpaste. Yeonjun hollered with the toothbrush still in his mouth. The inappropriate symbols Youjin had drawn onto his cheeks last night were still there, but he was too occupied with the topic at hand to care. 

San only grinned at them. He decided to have some fun with them and play along for a bit. “Let’s just say I gave him what he wanted. I’ll let your imagination do the rest.”

“Score, dude!” exclaimed Changbin. He and Yeonjun high-fived and drummed their hands on San’s naked back.

Mingi wore a dumbfounded look on his face. “Wait, seriously dude?”

“Just kidding, we didn’t do it.” San laughed. “We just made out by the fireplace. I’m taking it slow, remember? Like a gentleman.”

“Oh,” Mingi said lamely. He continued to brush his teeth.

Changbin rolled his eyes. “Be careful, dude. Take it any slower and you’ll end up waiting until marriage.” That earned him another high-five from Yeonjun.

San rolled his eyes and laughed along with them. He changed into a pair of white jeans, a pale blue sweater, and some converse. Once the others had finished changing too, he had to endure their jokes about his chivalry all the way through the dungeons on their way to breakfast. Ever since he’d started seeing Wooyoung, they’d made it their mission to tease him for being a hopeless romantic almost every day. They could be pretty annoying sometimes, but San loved them for it. He couldn’t imagine Hogwarts without them.

At last, they reached Entrance Hall. San hadn’t realized how hungry he was until Changbin complained about the loud grumbles his own stomach plagued him with. The delicious scent of toast, bacon, and eggs that wafted into their noses before they'd even entered the Great Hall wasn't much of a help either.

Despite all that, however, San’s mind was elsewhere. He found himself excited, exhilarated almost, to see Wooyoung at breakfast. Was he there yet? Had he slept well? Had he also woken up feeling incredible? Should San greet him with a kiss or should he save that for later? He couldn’t wait to see his smile again. He headed left as soon as he'd set foot into the Great Hall and scanned the Gryffindor table for Wooyoung.

But he wasn’t there.

San paused and checked again, but to no avail. Wooyoung was nowhere to be seen. He even checked the Ravenclaw table, thinking that he might be eating with Yeosang. He wasn’t. And he didn’t show up even by the time San, Mingi, Yeonjun, and Changbin had almost finished their meals.

“Maybe he’s sleeping in,” said Yeonjun with a shrug.

Changbin nodded. “Yeah. He did have a lot to drink last night.”

“You’ll see him at dinner later,” added Yeonjun.

“You’re probably right.” San sighed, unable to hide his disheartenment. He should’ve known. This wasn’t the first party he’d taken Wooyoung to, after all. When he was hungover, he often slept until past lunch, swore he’d never touch a single glass of alcohol ever again, and regained his usual cheerfulness by dinner. Still, he’d really wanted to see him.

“Oh no,” gasped Changbin all of a sudden. “What if Wooyoung doesn’t even remember your romantic little make-out session by the fireplace?” He and Yeonjun mockingly puckered their lips at San.

He rolled his eyes at them. “You guys are the worst.” His grin returned. “And besides. If he really doesn’t remember, I’ll just give him a romantic little reminder tonight.”

Yeonjun and Changbin hollered once more, but Mingi was awfully quiet. Now that San thought about it, he hadn’t said much all morning. His focus seemed directed inward as he absent-mindedly picked at his scrambled eggs. It wasn’t like him at all to act lost in thought like that. Usually, he'd chime in on Yeonjun and Changbin's jokes.

About an hour of joking around and chatting later, Changbin disappeared, saying he’d made plans with Seungmin. Yeonjun soon followed suit. He claimed he was craving more chicken and made his way down to the kitchens to persuade the house-elves there to make some for him. For a moment, San considered paying Wooyoung a surprise visit to his dorms but decided against it. It was best to let him have his beauty sleep for now. Instead, he and Mingi left the Great Hall together and returned to the dungeons. They didn’t have anything to do until they had to clean up last night’s party leftovers in an hour.

The common room was almost emptier than usual. The only souls present were two first-year students playing wizarding chess in a cozy niche by the window, a seventh-year student reading a hefty book on the flight of stairs that lead to the dorms, and the Bloody Baron talking to a girl prefect whose name San didn’t remember. Now that the exam season had passed, many students spent their weekends in Hogsmeade while others played games with their friends in the Great Hall or camped in the library to prepare for the next round of exams. That meant San and Mingi had the two couches by the fireplace all to themselves. They promptly claimed one couch each and were quick to get comfortable in the warmth the crackling flames provided.

Needless to say, San loved the common room. He always had. Chains with round, greenish lamps hung from the dungeon’s rough stone walls and dowsed every surface in the dim light they radiated. Slytherin's house emblem, the serpent, was engraved in the walls and stitched into the emerald banners that garnished the room. Its broad windows looked out into the depths of the Black Lake. One could see the giant squid swooshing by from time to time – and sometimes more interesting creatures. It had the aura of a mysterious, underwater shipwreck. It felt like a second home.

Mingi was still acting rather quiet. Every time San tried to start a conversation, he’d respond with nothing but a hum. He stared melancholically at the ceiling, an introspective expression occupying his typically carefree features.

San regarded him for a few seconds and sighed. “Is this about Yunho?”

Mingi jolted out of his thought at the mention of his name. He glanced at San as if he had forgotten he was there. Then he averted his eyes again. “Maybe.”

“Come on, Mingi. You always act like this after you're with him.” It was true. Last night had certainly not been the first time they had drunkenly made out and gone back to loathing each other the next day. They’d been acting like this for over a year, and Mingi refused to speak about whatever had happened to them. It was beyond frustrating.

“I wasn’t _with_ him.”

“You know what I mean. When will you finally tell me what happened between you two?”

“You already know! He and I used to be friends, now we aren’t anymore. What’s the big deal?”

San sighed. “Believe it or not, I figured as much. But mere ex-friends don’t make out like that.”

“With enough alcohol they might…”

“Mingi. We both know something happened between you two and I can tell how much it’s bothering you. Stop avoiding the topic and just tell me.”

“Have you always been this shamelessly persistent?” asked Mingi through gritted teeth.

San grinned. “I think so, yeah.”

Mingi rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. “Fine, I’ll tell you. But only because you won’t shut up about it.”

“I’m all ears, bro.”

After he’d taken a moment to organize his thoughts, Mingi finally explained. “Yunho and I were friends," he began. "Best friends, even. Everything used to so be easy between us. I never expected him to have romantic feelings for me… or for me to return them.” Mingi’s cheeks reddened as he fiddled around with his hands. “At least until he confessed to them to me.”

“He…what?” San rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Wait, but if you two liked each other then what was the problem?”

Mingi narrowed his eyes at him. “I was getting to that.” San raised his hands in defense and gestured for him to continue. “Well, you know… His confession was so out of the blue that I kind of… rejected him.”

San couldn't hold back. “You rejected him?! But why? I thought you - ”

“Look, I don’t know either, okay?! I panicked!” exclaimed Mingi. “One moment we were cracking dick jokes and the next he said he wanted to be with me and stuff! I didn’t know what to say!”

The seventh-year student slapped his book closed and rose from his seat on the stairs. He shot Mingi an irritated glare before he disappeared up the stairs into his dorm.

San lowered his voice. "You didn't know what to say so you rejected him?"

"I know how stupid that sounds but as I said, I panicked!"

San shook his head. “I guess that went as bad as it possibly could have,” he said with a sigh. “I still don’t understand why you hate each other’s guts though.”

“Well, after I said what I said, he completely freaked out on me and stormed off!” Mingi got to his feet and began to pace around the room, agitated. “That day, when I went to bed, I thought about the things he’d said about how he felt about me. The more I mulled it over, the more I realized that I may have seen him as more than just my best friend this whole time too. I felt like an idiot for rejecting him. I regretted it. It took me two days to get my shit together and set things straight with him, though. But I knew that I had to tell him that I changed my mind. It took me hours to find him. I assumed he was actively avoiding me, you know? Figured maybe he was embarrassed or hurt.” Mingi halted for a moment, and his expression darkened. “Turns out I was way off. He was just already over me.”

San furrowed his brows. “How do you know that?”

“Because he was kissing other dudes, damnit! Throwing himself at them! In front of my very eyes!” Mingi clenched his fists. He was practically shouting by now. The two first-year students promptly packed up their chessboard and scrambled out of the room, intimidated. “And he wouldn’t hear me out when I tried to talk to him! Now I don’t even know if he meant any of the things he said to me!”

“But – ”

“Whatever, I’m done with this topic! I don’t care about him! I’m over him anyway!” Mingi plopped back down on the couch, shaking with fury.

San opened his mouth to say something, but for the first time in a while, he couldn’t find the right words. He felt bad for having brought up the topic in the first place. It didn't take a genius to see how deeply this bothered Mingi. Even his favorite brand of Chocolate Frogs couldn’t brighten his mood.

Half an hour later, Yeonjun and Changbin waltzed into common room and the four of them made their way to the former Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom to clean.

Down in the dungeons, it had been hard to tell what the weather was like. Thick raindrops hammered against the classroom windows. The sky was veiled with gray clouds, blocking off any sunlight that might've brightened up the day a little. Purple cans, plastic cups, and confetti littered the wooden floor of the classroom. Yeosang, Jongho, Yunho, and a bunch of others were already there and had gotten started without them. They were handed a few plastic bags to sort the trash into, though they let their wands do most of the work. Thanks to Yeosang’s extensive knowledge of cleaning spells, they were able to finish in less than two hours. Seonghwa being the insufferable teacher’s pet he was had dropped in around noon to point out every single piece of purple confetti they might have overlooked. Mingi - now too distracted by his close friends to worry about Yunho’s presence - mocked him whenever he turned around, which made Yeonjun and Changbin stifle their laughter at his antics. San tried to hold back a chuckle at the way Mingi imitated Seonghwa’s signature arrogant strut when Yeosang pulled him aside.

“Hey. Can I talk to you for a second?”

“Sure.” He let Yeosang take him to a window on the other side of the room. He glanced around uneasily as if to make sure nobody overheard their conversation. “What’s up?”

“Look,” Yeosang began. “Usually, I would discuss this with Woo, but he’s probably still passed out in his dorm and I need to get this off my chest.”

San smirked. “Consider my interest piqued.”

“I…” Yeosang bit his lip, hesitant to get the words out. “I think I kissed Jongho last night,” he blurted out.

“You think?”

“I was very drunk!” Yeosang retorted defensively. "I remember that he helped me get back to my dorm and I think that's when I kissed him."

Now, out of all the things San had expected, this must’ve been at the bottom of the list somewhere. Sure, Jongho and Yeosang had known each other for quite some time, mainly through Wooyoung. And they’d become closer friends ever since San and Wooyoung had started seeing each other. But there had never been any kind of romantic chemistry between them. Not that San had detected any, at least. Then again, San’s surprise aside, both of them were single. As far as San knew, nobody would mind if Jongho and Yeosang became a thing. “Okay…and?”

Yeosang gasped, highly exasperated. He looked at San as if the problem should've been obvious. “And… I don’t know! It’s weird! Why did I do that?”

San shrugged. “They say when you're drunk you say and do the things you say and do when you're sober. Maybe you just like him?”

“But that’s the thing! I _don’t_ like him!” Yeosang reconsidered. “Well, I mean, I also don’t _dislike_ him. He’s an alright guy and all that. I just… never thought of him like that, I guess.”

“And now you do?”

“No! I don’t know! Help!” Yeosang whined and gave San a helpless look.

San considered him for a moment. “Well, why don’t you just talk it out with him?”

Yeosang’s eyes widened and his cheeks turned rosy. “I-I can’t do that! It’s gonna be so awkward between us now...”

“Jongho’s a laid-back guy. I’m sure he’ll be cool about it. He'll understand if you explain yourself.”

"I don't even know if he remembers..." Yeosang sighed and glanced at Jongho, who was laughing along with Mingi, Yeonjun, and Changbin. Eventually, he seemed to have made up his mind. He smiled. “Still, I guess I’ll think about it. Either way, thanks for hearing me out.”

San smiled back. “Anytime.”

“Is there anything you’d like to get off your chest?” Yeosang’s smile transformed into a grin. “I haven’t seen Wooyoung since the party but knowing you, I don’t believe you let him off the hook that easily.”

“Well, he and I did make out by the fireplace last night…”

Yeosang gasped. “Ugh, finally! He’s been whining about wanting you to kiss him for days.”

“He has?” That explained a lot. After all, it had been Wooyoung who had initiated their kiss. San scratched the back of his head. “I thought I was being a gentleman.”

“And it worked. He’s into that for some reason.”

“Is that so?” San grinned to himself. “You see, first we – ”

Yeosang held up a hand to interrupt. “Hold it right there, gentleman. No details please. I’m sure Wooyoung will tell me all about it later and I’m not listening to twice.”

San shrugged. “Your loss, pretty boy.”

They returned to the group and joined the other guys who sat cross-legged on the now clean, confetti-free floor. Yeonjun and Changbin reminisced about their favorite past party adventures and the amount of trouble some of those had brought them. Almost everyone cracked up at their stories and the way they told them – even Jongho couldn’t hold his laughter – but Mingi had fallen back into his sour mood from earlier. Even Yeonjun’s rendition about that one time he went streaking through the castle as a dare didn’t shake him.

Instead, he threw nasty glares at Yunho, who apparently sat a little too close to Seonghwa for his liking. Well, at least until Seonghwa became fed up with Yeonjun and Changbin’s wild stories. He rolled his eyes and excused himself, claiming he had prefect duties to attend to. He muttered something about strengthening the school regulations on his way out. Yeonjun and Changbin mocked his pompous tone as soon as the door had fallen shut behind him.

Yeosang glanced at his wristwatch. “Oh, it’s almost dinner time.”

“Already?” asked Yunho. “I can’t believe we’ve been here for that long.”

“I’m starving, let’s go to the Great Hall,” Jongho suggested. The group got to their feet and left the classroom.

Excitement washed over San. Finally, he’d see Wooyoung. There was no way he wouldn’t be at dinner. San wondered once again whether or not he should greet him with a kiss.

But just like this morning, San’s grin was wiped from his face when they entered the Great Hall. Wooyoung was nowhere to be seen.

Yeosang placed a hand on San’s shoulder, his eyes searching the Gryffindor table. “Is he still at the dorm?”

“I suppose,” said San. He couldn’t help but feel disappointed. “But that’s not like him at all.”

“Maybe he really drank too much. Though I’m a little worried that he hasn’t had a single meal today.” A frown of worry appeared on Yeosang’s face. “Should we bring him something?”

San contemplated the suggestion for a moment, then he shook his head. “No, let’s let him rest for now. I’m sure he’ll be fine by breakfast tomorrow.”

Yeosang nodded, though he still seemed worried. He left to join some of his other friends at the Ravenclaw table. San absent-mindedly walked to the other side of the room and joined Mingi, Yeonjun, and Changbin at the Slytherin table. He picked at his steak, unable to focus on whatever conversation they were having. His eyes continued to flicker towards the large door. A part of him still hoped Wooyoung would walk in cheerful as ever. He didn’t even notice that the hall had started to empty out until Mingi put an arm around his shoulder and called him back into reality.

“It’s getting late. Let’s go back to the dorms,” he said. Yeonjun and Changbin had already left.

San looked around, then nodded. “Alright.”

They rose to their feet and followed the crowd of students filing out of the Great Hall. They had almost reached the set of stairs that would lead them down to the dungeons when a thought struck San. He came to an abrupt halt, causing two older Hufflepuff students who'd been walking behind him to curse at him as they passed. What if Wooyoung felt seriously sick? San hadn’t even thought of that. He might’ve spent the whole day at the hospital wing. That would explain why he hadn’t shown up to any of the regular meals in the Great Hall. Nurse Vane would’ve given him something. San had to check.

“Wait, bro!” Mingi called after him. “Where are you going?”

“Hospital wing. I need to check if Wooyoung is there.”

Mingi threw a look at the dungeon entrance, then he looked back at San. “Alright. I’m coming with you.”

San nodded and the two of them scaled the Great Stairs for the second time today. The hospital wing was located on the third floor. Hogwarts’ students and teachers went there to have their injuries and illnesses treated – whether they be magical or non-magical. It consisted of one large main hall and a few smaller side rooms that were furnished with rows of beds with white sheets, privacy screens, and bedpans - San had scrubbed them several times as a result of detention. He would’ve headed straight to the main hall to see if Wooyoung was there, but he and Mingi didn’t make it past the door to Nurse Vane’s office.

“What are you two doing here?” She spoke in a friendly yet strict tone. Nurse Vane was a tall and slim, middle-aged witch, who always wore her long black hair in a high ponytail whenever San saw her. Her dark eyes were already scanning their bodies for any visible injuries. “Come back tomorrow if it’s nothing urgent. It’s almost curfew.”

“It is urgent, ma’am.” said San. Mingi nodded beside him.

Nurse Vane raised an eyebrow. “Is that so? You look fine to me.”

“I’m looking for one of my classmates,” explained San impatiently. “His name is Jung Wooyoung. He’s a Gryffindor, about this tall, ravishingly beautiful...”

Her expression changed as soon as San mentioned Wooyoung’s name. “Did you say... Jung Wooyoung?”

“Yes, ma’am. Have you seen him? Is he here by any chance?”

She looked sincerely apologetic. “He isn’t unfortunately. I’m… deeply sorry.”

San’s heart sank. “You’re positive?”

“Absolutely.”

Mingi put a reassuring arm around San’s shoulder. “Alright, that's all we wanted to know. Thanks, ma’am.”

Nurse Vane nodded and averted her eyes. “You should return to your dorms. And again… I’m sorry.” She returned to her office.

“Come on, let’s go back,” said Mingi, and the two of them left the hospital wing.

Gloomy shadows creeped over the cobbled ground of the dungeon corridors. San and Mingi made their way down the narrow spiral staircase that led to the Slytherin Dungeon. An uneasy feeling nagged at San. Something was off. His distress must’ve been visible on his face; Mingi nudged his side. “Cheer up, man. Isn’t it a good thing Wooyoung wasn’t in the hospital wing? It means he’s resting in his dorm.”

“I guess that’s true...” San hummed in thought. “But wasn’t Nurse Vane acting kind of strange?”

“How do you mean?”

“I don’t know… she seemed almost a little too sorry that Wooyoung wasn’t there. Does that make sense?”

Mingi scratched the back of his head. “I’m not sure, dude. Maybe.”

Their conversation ended when they reached the familiar, bare stone wall.

“ _Windroot_ ,” said San. A passage revealed itself and made way into their common room. They immediately went into the sixth-year boys’ dorm, washed up, and went to bed.

The other boys soon fell asleep, but San lay wide awake. The clock on his nightstand ticked endlessly as minutes and hours passed him by. No matter how many times he rolled from side to side, San couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. Was he being paranoid? No more than twenty-four hours had passed since he’d seen Wooyoung. Surely, he was alright... Right?

San up straight in his bed. He grabbed his wand from the nightstand, muttered “Lumos,” and used the light that erupted from its tip to search through the bag he’d dumped next to his bed. He got out his writing feather and a small piece of parchment.

_I missed you today. Hope you aren’t too hungover. I can’t wait to see your beautiful smile again tomorrow. Keep your lips ready._

Once he’d scribbled the message onto the parchment and signed it with a little heart, he gave it a tap of his wand and sent it out the door. He’d charmed it to find Wooyoung’s dorm room. Charms had always been San’s strongest subject, Defense Against the Dark Arts being a close second. When he and Wooyoung had just started going out, he’d always leave him enchanted little messages like that. They’d tell him when and where to meet, or simply delivered little compliments – and a few rather suggestive comments here and there. Flirting with Wooyoung was his favorite hobby, and he knew Wooyoung loved it too. He smiled at the thought.

San sighed when the clock struck three. Writing that note had offered at least a tiny sense of reassurance. Mingi was right. It was a good thing that Wooyoung wasn’t in the hospital wing. At the very latest, San would see him in Charms tomorrow.

At last, San’s eyelids became too heavy to bear, and he drifted off to sleep.

.


	3. Monday, November 28th

**Monday, November 28th. 7:51AM. Hogwarts, History of Magic Classroom. Choi San.**

San was mentally prepared to spend the next hour and a half staring off into space or drawing inappropriate doodles on Mingi’s parchment when the two of them took their seats in the back of the classroom.

History of Magic was the most boring subject the sixth years had to endure and almost all of the students agreed on that. Everyone would always nap away on their desks, finish some work they had to do for another class, or exchange notes with their friends while Professor Binns – a ghost who had casually continued to teach even after quietly dying in his sleep one day - went on and on about ancient wizards nobody gave a damn about.

Class hadn’t started yet, so San got out his books and let his chin rest in the palm of his hands.

His mood had reached a new low after not seeing Wooyoung at breakfast once again this morning.

What was he still doing in his dorm, skipping one meal after another? Was something wrong? Had he not enjoyed his birthday party as much as San had assumed? Was he sick? Did he not want to see San for some reason? But why?

Wooyoung had never acted like this before and not knowing what was wrong slowly started to drive San insane.

Mingi eyed his sulky friend. He had probably run out of comforting things to tell him. San had complained about being left in the dark all morning and nothing Mingi said had helped

“Listen bro, I don’t know what’s going on either but I’m sure he’ll have a good explanation for you once you see him in Charms later,” he offered.

San was really curious to hear what kind of explanation that would be. He wasn’t mad at him or anything, just worried. Normally Wooyoung would have sent a reply to the message San had sent him at dinner yesterday. He always did…

San’s strange feeling from yesterday evening had gotten even worse overnight. He had never felt something quite as uncanny before. It was more than just worry or confusion. It came from somewhere deep inside of him, as if something or someone was calling out to him so desperately that it didn’t feel like it was coming from himself. It was as if an invisible force coming from his very own soul was trying to tell him something.

He hadn’t told Mingi about that however, simply because he knew that it was nonsense and that it would make him sound insane. He wouldn’t know how to explain it anyway. He was probably just imagining things because he had only gotten three hours of sleep.

He pushed that weird feeling aside and decided to trust that he would see Wooyoung later today. There was going be an explanation for everything.

San managed a smile. He did appreciate Mingi’s efforts in trying to cheer him up and even though he didn’t truly feel any better, he decided to make it seem like he did, for Mingi’s sake. “You’re probably right,” he finally replied.

Mingi returned his smile just as Binns came in through the wall and started his lesson.

He was floating a few centimeters above his desk chair and spent the first few minutes announcing a mandatory field trip all sixth and seventh-year students would go on some time after Christmas.

San was ready to let his head rest on his books and catch up on some sleep when Binns announced today’s topic.

_Lord Voldemort._

The usually uninterested class went silent and a nervous tension filled the room. Of course, everyone knew who he was. He had died only a year before most of them had been born and some of them had lost their parents or other family members because of him and his followers.

Professor Binns seemed somewhat pleased that his class was paying attention for once. “Who can tell me about him?” he asked, his eyes scanning their faces.

Nobody said anything, but Yunho slowly raised his hand. He was the only one who actively took part in History of Magic class. He had always been interested in history and knew a lot of details about pretty much every historical event one could think of.

It was almost scary sometimes. It often sounded like he’d been there himself.

Needless to say, he was Binns’ favorite student. The ghost gave Yunho a smile and gestured for him to speak.

“His real name was Tom Marvolo Riddle. He was born in 1926 on December 31st,” Yunho explained. Mingi rolled his eyes, muttering something that sounded a lot like ‘nerd.’ Yunho only glared at him before continuing. “He and his movement killed countless people over decades, which earned him a reputation as the darkest wizard of all time. People didn’t even dare utter his name.”

San looked around to see everyone listening attentively. Of course, they all knew the story. Their parents had told them a million tales about the things he’d done. The Battle of the Department of Mysteries, the Battle of Hogwarts, the cold-blooded murder of thousands of muggles and muggleborn wizards and witches.

San himself was what they called a pure-blooded wizard, just like Yunho and Yeosang; Wooyoung and Jongho were half-bloods and Mingi was muggleborn. Of course, blood status really didn’t matter to anyone of their generation. It was about as important as their shoe size.

San’s parents had always taught him that there was no such thing as a ‘superior’ blood status, and he had never questioned that thought.

Yunho continued to flex his knowledge. “His mother died shortly after giving birth to him in front of the muggle orphanage he grew up in. His magical powers were a lot stronger than any normal magical kid’s. He could move objects with his mind and cause them to float wherever he wished, manipulate animals and creatures at will, speak Parseltongue, and use his power to inflict harm on other orphans. He himself was a half-blood and he assumed that his father was the wizard parent. He was convinced that his mother couldn’t have been a witch because he believed that she would have been able to avoid death if she was,” he explained as Professor Binns nodded along with a pleased grin on his transparent face.

“He was a Slytherin student at Hogwarts from 1938 to 1945. He despised the fact that he was forced to return to the muggle orphanage during summer breaks. He was an exceptionally talented student, a prefect, loved by all of his professors - except for Albus Dumbledore, who always kept a close eye on him. The ‘friends’ he made during his time in Hogwarts became his Death Eaters later on, and they were already little more than servants to him back then. He never knew true friendship and manipulated them into committing petty crimes for him. He became obsessed with his heritage and eventually, after enough research, had to accept the fact that his father was a muggle, and gave himself the alias ‘Lord Voldemort’ to spare himself the reminder of his ‘filthy muggle father.’”

Yunho went on about Voldemort’s heritage and all the Horcruxes he created over time in such detail that San wondered how many books he must’ve read on the topic. It was like he’d seen those events take place himself.

The class would gasp at whenever Yunho mentioned one of the countless murders Voldemort committed to get what he wanted. They knew how cold-blooded and evil Voldemort had been but hearing all of that again was always unsettling. How Voldemort slipped further into the Dark Arts and gained his following, enhanced his skills in Legilimency to a masterly level which allowed him to read, control, and telepathically invade the minds of others and create visions designed to torture them into madness until they begged for death. How he learned about the prophecy about himself and Harry Potter during the First Wizarding War and decided to kill him as a child, not knowing that it would backfire, destroy his own body and make Potter a Horcrux. And how he slowly regained his power during Potter’s Hogwarts years, leading to the duel between the two in Little Hangleton that started the Second Wizarding War, the Battle of the Department of Mysteries a year later, the ministry take-over and, eventually, the Battle of Hogwarts in which Potter finally defeated him.

“His broken and mutilated soul has been trapped between life and death ever since, unable to move on to the afterlife or even return as a disembodied spirit…” Yunho concluded the story. A chill went through the class and left behind a heavy silence.

It was hard to imagine that it was a true story and that it had happened only a year before San had been born. Harry Potter had been just as old as San when all of that happened.

San couldn’t help but wonder what he would do if he ever had to face a dark wizard like that. It had been his childhood dream to become an Auror, but of course, he had never used his excellent Defense Against the Dark Arts skills outside of the classroom. In fact, even in their Defense Against the Dark Arts classes they only learned about the theory behind offensive or defensive magic. They barely ever had to get out their wands in class.

Now that San thought about it, he truly had no idea what it would be like to fight in an actual battle. What it would feel like to have to protect his own and someone else’s life. What it would feel like to have to protect Wooyoung’s life.

San was ripped out of his thoughts when Mingi scoffed. His eyes went back and forth between Binns, who looked very satisfied with Yunho’s long and accurate response, and Yunho, who was well aware of just how impressive his knowledge about history was.

“Very good, Mr. Jeong. Thirty points to Hufflepuff,” Binns said as he floated back to his desk.

Yunho smiled sheepishly as his housemates gave a cheer. He had talked for almost the entire lesson, San realized. Even the Slytherins clapped along – except for Mingi that is. He scowled and mumbled something to himself that didn’t sound too positive.

“What do you think our society would look like right now if Harry Potter hadn’t defeated Voldemort in the Battle of Hogwarts?” Binns asked. “Thinking about that question will be your task until our next lesson. I expect at least half a roll of parchment from everyone!”

The students had never been that invested in any topic from History of Magic class, but today, they excitedly continued to discuss it among their respective friend groups as they all poured down the Great Stairs.

Especially Yunho was the center of attention. Many of his fellow Hufflepuffs curiously bombarded him with questions about more details on Voldemort. When the Hufflepuffs headed into a different direction at the foot of the Great Stairs, they followed him closely as if he were some kind of celebrity.

Mingi looked after him with a grumpy expression. “Look at them treating him like a pop star,” he spat. “He’s just a history geek who thinks he’s special because he knows a bunch of useless fun facts.”

San chuckled. “Careful, bro. Your jealousy is showing.”

“Jealous? Me? I don’t care enough about him to be jealous!” Mingi scoffed, although it didn’t sound too convincing.

San only shook his head at his best friend and put an arm around his shoulders.

The Slytherins crossed the Entrance Hall and made their way down into the dungeons. Their next class was Potions with the Ravenclaws, but most of them were still occupied with Binns’ essay question. They continued to whisper amongst themselves, speculating about what Voldemort’s goal was and how different their lives would be if he was in power.

San was too busy thinking about Wooyoung to truly care at the moment. He would take care of his History of Magic essay later, after Wooyoung had explained to him where he’d been this whole time, kissed him and cuddled up to his chest, San thought bitterly.

When Professor Slughorn came in, San let his chin rest in the palm of his hands again, ready to zone out.

Slughorn didn’t seem too pleased about the Slytherins’ sudden fascination with Voldemort, especially since they wouldn’t quiet down even after he’d tried to start his lesson as they were too busy discussing a completely different topic in his Potions class. His mood turned even darker when Changbin and Yeonjun suddenly raised their hands.

“Professor, you used to know Voldemort, right?” Changbin asked excitedly. “He was one of your students!”

Excited murmuring took over the classroom.

Slughorn had winced visibly when Changbin said Voldemort’s name out loud. “Yes… he was…”

Of course, everyone wanted to know more about that and bombarded him with questions, but Slughorn only got angry and told them to settle down before he’d start taking points from Slytherin for every time they spoke Voldemort’s name.

A collective groan went through the class before they finally let him start today's lesson on Sleeping Solutions. He gave them a brief introduction to the potion’s use and effects as he wrote the list of ingredients on the blackboard.

As soon as he had gotten them to team up and start cutting and weighing the ingredients they needed, Yeosang came over to San and Mingi’s table.

“Have you seen Woo today?” he asked, taking a seat across from them. The worry was written all across his face. “He wasn’t at breakfast and I don’t have any classes with him today…”

San shook his head as he mashed the griffin claw to powder. “Nope. Still no signs of him anywhere.”

Yeosang sighed. “Just what is going on with him? Wouldn’t he tell us if something was wrong…?” he said, more to himself than to San or Mingi.

“I’m still hoping he’ll show up to Charms after this,” San said absentmindedly. And if he didn’t, he would barge into the Gryffindor Common Room as soon as classes ended to check on Wooyoung himself, San thought.

When Slughorn passed by their table, he glared at Yeosang and told him to return to his seat before he had to take any points from Ravenclaw. Yeosang didn’t put up much of a fight and just headed back to another Ravenclaw guy he had partnered up with.

The minutes were ticking by painfully slow. Even Mingi had given up on trying to cheer up San and the two of them now wordlessly tried to get their Sleeping Solution to turn turquoise. Potions was actually one of San’s better subjects, but he seemed to make an awful lot of mistakes today. After about half an hour of getting ingredients mixed up, accidentally heating up the cauldron too hard, and adding too much salamander blood, he let out a sigh of relief when Slughorn finally let them leave.

He had given them a ton of homework, but San couldn’t find it in himself to care. All he knew was that he wanted to get to Charms as quickly as possible. San was practically sprinting up the stairs leading to the second-floor classrooms and Mingi had trouble following him.

The small Charms classroom was already cramped with Gryffindor and Slytherin students, leaving only a handful of empty seats.

But Wooyoung was nowhere to be seen.

San’s heart sank. There were no double seats left which forced him and Mingi to split up. With slumped shoulders, San took a seat next to Jongho, who greeted him with a nod and wordlessly cleared his table to make space for him.

Something was wrong with Wooyoung. If San hadn’t been sure of it before, he was now. He still had no clue what it was, but there was no other explanation as to why he would still be in his dorm. San would just have to ditch Care of Magical Creatures and visit him in his dorm as soon as Charms ended.

“How long are you going to keep Wooyoung?” Jongho chuckled, ripping San out of his thoughts. His eyes were casually scanning the Nonverbal Spells page in the Charms book in front of him as he spoke. “I mean I get it, he’s pretty much your boyfriend now, but he didn’t even stop to pick up his wand before he moved in with you. One would think he’d need it for class.”

San furrowed his brows at him. “Dude, what are you talking about? I haven’t seen him since I took him back to your dorm after the party.”

Jongho looked up from the book and turned to face him properly, clearly surprised by San’s reaction. “What? Wooyoung hasn’t been at the dorm since the night of the party. I assumed he was with you!”

San’s eyes widened. He could practically feel his insides turn. Wooyoung hadn’t been in his dorm the whole time? Then where the fuck had he been over the last two days?

Anxiety washed over San and Jongho seemed to pick up on it. “Wait, what is going on? Are you sure he wasn’t with you?”

“Wh- Of course I’m sure!”

“Then where the hell is he? He wasn’t in his bed when I came back from the party, so I thought he was with you, especially since I didn’t see either of you all Sunday. His bed is completely untouched, his wand is still on his nightstand, and I’ve been feeding his cat for the past two days,” Jongho explained quickly. He was the most carefree guy in the castle, but now he looked more concerned than San had ever seen him.

San was about to reply when Professor Knotts cleared his throat in irritation. “I hate to interrupt your little _tea time_ , gentlemen, but I would like to begin with the lesson if you don’t mind.”

Knotts was a middle-aged wizard who had become the new Charms professor after Filius Flitwick had retired in their third year. He was fairly tall, had black hair with only a few gray spots in it, and always wore a monocle. He rose his eyebrows at them, expecting an answer.

San and Jongho mumbled an apology and continued the rest of their conversation on a piece of parchment. San told him that he had assumed that Wooyoung was sleeping off his hangover at the dorms this whole time, and Jongho informed him that Wooyoung hadn’t been to Divination class or Quidditch practice this morning, which was something he had never done before, even when he had broken his leg last summer. Wooyoung was as serious about his spot on the Quidditch team as one could get.

The two of them exchanged confused and worried looks. Needless to say, neither of them could focus on whatever Knotts was talking about. San felt like someone had hit him over the head with a broomstick multiple times.

Had Wooyoung left the common room again after San had brought him there after the party? But why would he have done that? It had been past midnight and he had already changed into his pajamas. Where would he have even gone without his wand?

And most importantly, where was he right now?

San’s eyes continuously flickered over to the old clock on the other side of the room as he anxiously waited for the lesson to end. He barely participated in the exercises they had to do. His thoughts were racing, and his head was spinning. Even Jongho’s attempts at reassuring him that there was probably a reasonable explanation for all of this couldn’t ease his mind.

At long last, Knotts finally announced their homework and the class started to pour out of the room.

San and Jongho exchanged looks and rose from their seats. Knotts was just packing away his things when the two of them walked up to him.

“Professor Knotts?” Jongho said as they came to a halt in front of his desk.

Knotts’ head perked up and his usually calm face showed a cautious expression. It disappeared almost as quickly as it had shown up. “Mr. Choi, what can I do for you?” Something about his smile bothered San.

“We want to know where Wooyoung is. He hasn’t been attending his classes all day and he hasn’t returned to his common room since Saturday night either.”

“Jung Wooyoung?” Knotts asked. Like there was another fucking Wooyoung in their grade.

“Yes, we’re getting seriously worried,” San said. “Is something wrong with him? Is he sick?”

Professor Knotts laughed. He _fucking_ laughed. “There is no need to worry. Mr. Jung is completely fine.”

San and Jongho exchanged confused looks. Jongho turned back to Knotts. “Are you sure? Nobody has seen him since Saturday night. Where is he?”

“Mr. Jung is no longer attending this school.”

San felt like someone had slapped him in the face. “What… What are you talking about? You must be mistaken or something. Of course Wooyoung’s still attending – ”

“There have been… unforeseen circumstances that prompted Mr. Jung's leave,” Knotts interrupted. San raised his eyebrows, but Knotts only continued to smile, like this whole thing wasn't a big deal. “But he sends his best regards.”

San was starting to get seriously pissed. “ _Best regards_? You know what, you can stick that up your – ”

“You should really hurry to your next class, Mr. Choi, or I will have to take 50 points from Slytherin.”

Jongho barely managed to stop San from getting himself into even more trouble with Knotts and dragged him out of the classroom. Once outside in the empty hallway, San stopped struggling against his friend and both of them fell silent for a few seconds.

San didn’t know what he had expected to hear but it hadn’t been _that_. Wooyoung leaving the school? So suddenly? And without a word? There was no way.

“What the fuck just happened?” was all San brought forth. Anger and frustration were pumping in his veins. His mind was all over the place and he felt dizzy.

Jongho just shook his head in disbelief as he stared at the closed classroom door, clearly as frustrated and confused as San was. They stood there for what had to be more than a few minutes, trying to wrap their heads around the situation and figure out what to do next.

“Maybe we should head to class for now?” Jongho suggested, giving San an uneasy look.

San considered it for a moment. On one hand, he knew that there wasn’t much they could do right now, but at the same time his higher reasoning was clouded by the whirlwind of emotions that had taken over him. He couldn’t just go to class and pretend that everything was fine. He needed to do something. Anything.

“Fuck class, I’m heading to your dorm,” he told Jongho. They were late for class by now anyway and he needed to see it for himself. He was already turning on his heel and speeding towards the stairs when Jongho caught up to him.

“I’m coming with you.”

The way to the Gryffindor Common Room was like a daze. Anger mixed with fear and frustration took over San’s mind. Knotts’ words had burned themselves into his brain, yet he couldn’t believe them one bit. _Mr. Jung is no longer attending this school._

San was convinced that Wooyoung would never just leave without telling anyone. He couldn’t think of a single reason why he would ever leave Hogwarts at all. It was the middle of the semester and he was happy at Hogwarts. He was doing well in all of his classes, especially Divination, and he was happy with his friends. He was happy with San…

San snapped out of it once he and Jongho had crossed the common room and climbed up the winding stairs to the sixth-year boys’ dorms. Wooyoung’s gray cat Darong happily greeted Jongho as they entered. He picked her up and sat down on his bed as San looked around.

It was just as Jongho had described. Wooyoung’s bed looked untouched, his wand was still resting on his nightstand and his suitcase was poking out from underneath his bed. The note San had sent him yesterday was still pinned to one of his pillows. If he had really left the school, he must have left without any of his most prized possessions – his favorite stuffed bunny Puchi, his beloved red and yellow striped Gryffindor scarf that he loved to wear around this time of year, his poster of his favorite Quidditch team - the Chudley Cannons, and the picture on his nightstand that showed him and San hanging out on their bench by the window, smiling and laughing.

He turned to Jongho. “Something very fishy is going on here. It’s like he never left. Why would he leave without any of his belongings? He would’ve at least taken his wand with him.”

Jongho hummed in agreement as San started to pace around the room. What the hell was going on? San was sure that what Knotts had told them was complete bullshit. Something was going on with Wooyoung and the professors might be trying to hide it.

After a few more minutes of thinking it over, San had made up his mind. If Knotts wasn’t going to spill, he needed to head to the source. He was almost sure the other professors would tell them the same thing, but they still might be able to find out some details through them.

“Jongho,” he suddenly spoke up.

Startled, the Gryffindor dropped the bag of nuts he had started snacking on while San had been pacing around the room wordlessly. “Um, yes?”

“Could you go around and try to get something out of the other professors? Maybe one of them will tell us more than Knotts.”

“You got it,” Jongho replied and immediately rose from his bed. He was already halfway out of the room when he noticed that San wasn’t following him. “What about you?”

“I’ll go see the headmistress,” San replied. He noticed Jongho’s eyes widening for a moment, but he ignored that. “I just need a moment.”

Jongho nodded, a thoughtful expression on his face. San knew he and Wooyoung had been good friends and dormmates since their first year. He could tell that Jongho understood his desperation. “We’re gonna find him one way or another,” he said vigorously.

San gave him a smile. “I know.”

And with that, Jongho exited the dorm room, leaving San alone with his thoughts.

Darong soon jumped on Wooyoung’s bed and curled up into a ball next to him, purring quietly. She leaned against his hand when San reached out to pet her.

When his eyes fell on Wooyoung’s belongings and the picture on his nightstand, he felt his resolve strengthen - along with his anger.

San all but barged into the headmistress’ office, ignoring the exasperated glare she sent his way.

Headmistress Park put down her writing feather and hastily let the piece of parchment disappear underneath her desk.

She was a tall, fair-skinned woman with raven hair that was always tied into a tight bun and made her look cold and strict. She probably wasn’t any older than forty-five and she was considered to have been very beautiful in her younger years, but on the inside, she was just like any other stuck up authority figure.

San’s temperamental nature let him forget all about the trouble he was definitely getting himself into right now. He didn’t care.

“I hope you have a very good reason for this intrusion, Mr. Choi,” Headmistress Park said in her usual icy tone. Her eyes were still widened, and her lip was quivering as she was seemingly trying not to show her fury, but her voice remained calm as ever.

“You bet I do! Where is Wooyoung?” San cut straight to the point. There was no use in beating around the bush; he wanted answers and he wanted them _now_.

Her eyebrow twitched a little at the mention of Wooyoung’s name. “I beg your pardon?”

“Jung Wooyoung, a Gryffindor sixth-year, has been missing since Saturday night and only now Knotts told me that he is no longer attending this school! As if he’d leave without a word to any of his friends!” he yelled and, guided by his temper, walked forward to lean on the headmistress’ desk while staring down at her.

She held his gaze, her patience visibly thinning.

San had come so close that he had to lower his voice to a threatening growl. “So I’m asking you right now: where is he?”

San didn’t even try to be polite with his words. He was sick of vague answers about Wooyoung’s whereabouts.

“ _Professor_ Knotts,” Headmistress Park corrected him with the hint of a smirk tugging at her lips. Seeing just how calm she was only infuriated San more.

He angrily slammed his hand down on her desk. “ _Where_ is Wooyoung?!”

“It seems as though Professor Knotts has given you the same answer I am about to give you; Mr. Jung is no longer attending this school. There’s nothing else you need to know. Was that all?”

“ _Was that all?_ You have to be kidding me!” San exclaimed, moving away from her desk to throw up his arms in frustration.

Anger boiled up inside of him and his worry grew along with it. Something was very fucked here, and the headmistress was trying to cover it up. She’d definitely set up Knotts and the other professors too. San was sure of it.

He turned to face her again, his breath shaking with fury. “Listen, lady – ”

“No, _you_ listen, Mr. Choi! I am a very tolerant person,” she interrupted and rose to her feet. San snorted but she ignored that as she continued, “but I will not have you barging into my office unannounced and let you disrespect me like that! That’s sixty points from Slytherin! Now, if you don’t return to your common room at once I will expel you faster than you can say Quidditch World Cup!”

San’s jaw tightened. He didn’t want to get kicked out, but he wanted, no, _needed_ to find out where Wooyoung went. The tiny bit of higher reasoning that he had left told him that that would be much harder to do outside of Hogwarts. He had no choice but to retreat.

“Well?” the headmistress asked expectantly. Something about the way she regarded San made him think that she wanted him to continue pestering her. Like she felt some kind of joy at the thought of expelling him. He was _not_ going to give her the satisfaction.

“Good day,” San said through gritted teeth before turning on his heel and storming out of the office, slamming the heavy door behind him.

He stomped down the winding stairs, feeling not the least bit wiser than before.

As soon as he had turned the corner, he hastily scribbled notes on three pieces of parchment and used the same Charm he had used for Wooyoung’s note to tell Jongho, Mingi, and Yeosang to come to the former Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.

He didn’t know how they were going to do it yet, but he knew they needed to take matters into their own hands. If the school wasn’t going to do anything, they just needed to find Wooyoung themselves.

Mingi and Yeosang showed the same shock and frustration San and Jongho had after hearing about Wooyoung’s disappearance. Mingi looked like he was ready to fight somebody and Yeosang seemed shaken up and worried.

Jongho wasn’t with them. He had returned San’s note, saying that he couldn’t join them since the professors had started to keep a close eye on him after he had gone around and asked everyone and everything about Wooyoung. It was probably better for him to lay low for a little bit.

“This is bullshit!” Mingi exclaimed angrily and San couldn’t agree more.

He was still boiling with anger from his meeting with the headmistress and the fear for Wooyoung still had his mind racing.

Yeosang didn’t say anything.

“It just doesn’t make any fucking sense! Why are they pretending that everything is alright? There’s no way Wooyoung would just leave overnight like that! Especially not without telling any of us about it… without telling _me_ about it…” San heard his desperation in his own voice.

Mingi gave him a sympathetic look. “What do we do now?” he asked, looking from San to Yeosang and back.

“If only we had a way to find out what exactly happened...” San said absent-mindedly.

“But… how can we find out what happened if nobody’s telling us anything? We have no hints as to where he might be or why he disappeared so suddenly…” Yeosang spoke up for the first time since San had filled them in on the situation.

A pause followed. Nothing seemed to come to their minds.

“I... I don’t know yet...” San replied, “but we will find a way. Even if I have to break the fucking law.”

Both Mingi and Yeosang seemed to share his determination. Yeosang even managed to show a small smile.

Unfortunately, they realized pretty soon that they wouldn’t be able to come up with a genius plan in their emotionally charged states of mind. They decided to clear their heads for now and parted ways to head back to their respective common rooms.

San felt bad for letting Yeosang go back alone since he’d seemed so affected by the news, but he was also too caught up in his own mix of feelings to say anything to him.

**Monday, November 28th. 07:21PM. Hogwarts, Fifth Floor. Choi Jongho.**

Jongho spent his way to the Ravenclaw Common Room trying to figure out what to say to Yeosang. He wanted to check in on him to see how he was holding up after hearing the news about Wooyoung’s mysterious disappearance. He just hoped that it wasn’t going to be weird between them since they hadn’t really had much of a chance to talk since that kiss.

Even just thinking about it made Jongho’s face feel hot. He hadn’t stopped thinking about it ever since the night of the party, even though he knew it didn’t mean anything. Yeosang had been so drunk that he probably hadn’t meant to kiss Jongho so suddenly, but for some reason, the Gryffindor just couldn’t forget about it.

He’d never thought of Yeosang as more than a friend, but something inside of him must’ve changed that night.

Weirdly enough, he found Yeosang sitting on the ground of the fifth-floor hallway, right across from the knobless door that led to the Ravenclaw Common Room. His arms were wrapped around his knees and he stared off into space, a thoughtful expression occupying his delicate features.

He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn’t even notice Jongho until he came to a halt right in front of him.

“Oh, hey,” Yeosang greeted him, looking up. He attempted a smile, but it didn’t take a genius to see that it was forced. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, uh...” Jongho stammered awkwardly. Would it sound weird if he told Yeosang that he’d come here solely to see him? It was weird to him even. Spontaneously meeting up at each other’s common rooms wasn’t something they usually did. They didn’t even spend a lot of time together in general – at least not without Wooyoung accompanying them. Would it seem like Jongho wanted to be more than a friend to him if he told him the truth? Then again… friends checked on each other, right? He just wanted to make sure Yeosang was okay after all. As a friend. “Are... are you okay?” Jongho asked instead, evading the question.

“Do I _look_ okay to you?” Yeosang snapped, averting his eyes.

“Right, sorry… I shouldn’t have asked,” Jongho replied. He should have known that Yeosang probably wouldn’t have taken the news about Wooyoung lightly.

Figuring that it was best to leave him alone, Jongho had already turned to leave when Yeosang called out to him.

“Wait,” he said. “I’m sorry; that was rude. This isn’t your fault.” Jongho faced him again and looked down at Yeosang who met his gaze with a certain lostness in his eyes that made his chest constrict. “I’m just so worried...”

Jongho sighed and sat down next to Yeosang before putting a comforting arm around his shoulders, awkwardness be damned. “I know…” he said. “I feel the same.”

Yeosang rested his head on Jongho’s shoulder, relaxing the slightest bit.

It wasn’t a big deal, friends comforted each other like that all the time, right?

Jongho wasn’t sure what to say and just let his head rest against Yeosang’s. His hair smelled really nice, Jongho noticed, like a fresh summer breeze, apples, and cinnamon.

A few moments passed before Yeosang spoke up again. “I can’t believe it took us so long to realize that he was gone in the first place. Why did nobody tell us anything? Why haven’t we done anything? Why didn’t we check on him sooner?” he asked, desperation laced in his voice.

“I’m sure there’s an explanation for all of this. It’s going to be okay,” Jongho tried to reassure him but he didn’t even believe himself.

The situation was so bizarre that Jongho still couldn’t quite wrap his head around it. He was just as worried about Wooyoung as everyone else. If only he’d told San that Wooyoung hadn’t been in his common room all Sunday. He should have known something was off when he saw Wooyoung’s wand on his nightstand.

“Is it really? For all we know, something terrible could have happened to him, yet we’re only sitting here doing nothing!” Yeosang said vigorously and buried his face in his hands.

“I know…” Jongho repeated and even let a hand run through Yeosang’s soft brown hair, “but we need to stay calm for now until we figure things out.”

Yeosang still averted his eyes, but Jongho could see that he was fighting back tears. “I don’t know if I can...”

“Then I’ll be right here to calm you down.”

It was cheesy and probably gave away just how much Jongho’s feelings for Yeosang had shifted but it felt like it was something the Ravenclaw needed to hear right now. In fact, Yeosang even regarded Jongho with a small smile upon hearing those words.

They looked at each other for a few seconds and Jongho felt his cheeks heat up at their proximity. He was suddenly so nervous around Yeosang, suddenly so aware of him.

“What are you doing out here anyway?” Jongho tried to switch subjects.

Yeosang blinked and looked around as though he had forgotten where they were. “Oh, that. I didn’t know the right answer to get in, so I’m stuck out here until someone answers the question correctly,” he explained, sheepishly scratching the back of his head.

“What was the question?” Jongho asked, getting up before offering Yeosang a hand to help him up as well.

Yeosang let him pull him to his feet and held on to his hand as he led him to the bronze eagle-shaped knocker at the entrance to the common room.

A few seconds passed before the eagle-shaped bronze knocker asked its question: _“What can be caught but never thrown?”_

Yeosang looked at Jongho helplessly.

Jongho thought about it for a minute. Caught but never thrown? It didn’t take too long before it dawned on him and he had to suppress a chuckle at the silly riddle.

“A cold,” Jongho concluded and a moment later, the knobless door swung open.

“You got it right!” Yeosang exclaimed in relief. Jongho couldn’t help but smile proudly as he let Yeosang lead him into the common room. “Thank you, I thought I’d have to camp out there...”

“It’s nothing,” Jongho waved off and looked around.

He had only been in the Ravenclaw Common Room once before, but he’d been half drunk and it’d been pretty dark. Only now that the room was still well lit by a bunch of torches did he realize just how pretty it was.

It was a wide circular room with graceful arched windows that were hung with blue and bronze silks. The ceiling was domed and painted with stars that complimented the midnight-blue carpet and it was filled with various tables, chairs, and bookcases.

“You should probably go get some rest. Today’s been tough for all of us,” Jongho suggested.

Yeosang nodded, the worry returning to his features. “Thanks again. Also for cheering me up a little.”

“Anytime.” Jongho himself was surprised by how much he meant it. Yeosang smiled faintly and let Jongho pull him into a hug. “I promise everything’s going to be okay,” he muttered into Yeosang’s hair.

“I hope so.”

The two of them stayed like this for several moments, Yeosang’s arms wrapped around Jongho’s neck, and Jongho’s hands holding Yeosang’s waist somewhat carefully. It was nice, and Jongho realized just how small and delicate Yeosang felt compared to himself.

That’s when somebody came into the common room and gasped in surprise.

Jongho looked up and spotted Park Seonghwa. He was holding a bunch of books in his arms and looked like he was about to sort them back into the abundance of bookshelves that were stationed around the room. He probably hadn’t expected anyone to be in there. His expression turned stricter when he recognized Jongho and pointed at him accusingly.

“Hey, aren’t you a Gryffindor? You can’t be in here!” he said and crossed his arms over his chest.

Yeosang pulled out of the hug and ran a hand through his hair. “He just helped me get past the knocker, Seonghwa. It’s no big deal,” he defended him.

Seonghwa still didn’t seem too pleased with that answer.

He was about to protest when Yeosang whispered to Jongho, “You should leave before he takes points from you. He takes his prefect business very seriously.”

“Got it,” Jongho replied with a chuckle.

Yeosang looked at Jongho apologetically as he gave him an awkward wave before turning around to leave the common room, trying not to think about how much he’d liked holding Yeosang. 

**Monday, November 28th. 11:49PM. Hogwarts, Slytherin Dorm. Choi San.**

San couldn’t sleep a wink. His thoughts just wouldn’t stop whirling around in his head. Wooyoung was gone and nobody knew where he was.

San had no way of knowing if he was alright or whether he had left willingly – although he was fairly sure that he hadn’t. He couldn’t have, right? No matter how long he thought about it, he couldn’t think of a plausible reason why Wooyoung would leave without a word.

After minutes and minutes of tossing and turning, San kicked off his blankets and got out of his bed. There was no point in trying to sleep. He might as well clear his head and come up with a solid plan to find Wooyoung.

He threw on a shirt and a pair of sweatpants and soon found himself aimlessly wandering through the dungeons. The corridors were dead silent and the only sounds to be heard were his owns footsteps on the cold stone ground and the quiet sizzling of the torches that lit up the darkness around him.

When he passed the kitchen he considered stopping for a little snack – he had skipped dinner after all – but he ended up deciding against it. The thought of eating didn’t seem too appealing right now.

It was no use. His mind was blank and full of thoughts at the same time. He couldn’t think of a way to find out where Wooyoung was without help from the school or somebody outside of it.

He had already tried to send his little owl, Spooky, to Wooyoung’s parents, but to no avail. Spooky had returned his letter after only two hours, which made the whole thing all the more suspicious. It wouldn’t surprise San if Headmistress Park had somebody control the mail going in and out of Hogwarts. Was there any way to get around that? But how could he -

San stopped in his tracks.

His train of thought was interrupted by the sound of a voice coming from his right. He wasn’t much of an eavesdropper and was about to just continue onwards in order to not get busted for being outside the common room after curfew, but he perked up when he heard Wooyoung’s name fall.

His heart skipped a beat. He was certain that he’d heard that correctly.

The source of those voices was a wooden door next to him, one he’d never seen before. Then again, he wasn’t even sure which part of the dungeons he was in right now after walking around for Merlin-knows-how-long. San hesitantly stepped closer to the doors to listen.

“This Gryffindor kid has been following teachers around all day asking about the… the Wooyoung situation!”

“Calm down, he’s just an annoying kid. He’s going to lose interest and forget about him. We have bigger problems to deal with. The headmistress, for instance.”

San couldn’t believe his ears. Were all professors involved in this? And what part did Headmistress Park play in this? Sure, San had already figured that she’d been the one who’d told the professors not to talk about Wooyoung, but something told him that there was more to it than just that.

“I do kind of feel bad for the kid, though,” the first voice mumbled.

“Oh, stop whining! This kid is just the beginning. A small fraction of the bigger picture.”

San furrowed his brows trying to figure out who those voices belonged to. They were definitely professors.

The first one sounded like Professor Snippet, the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, though San hadn’t expected something like this from him of all people. He’d always seemed like a good person to him.

“I’m not sure about this, Dave...” whined Professor Snippet.

 _Dave?_ San couldn’t think of a professor with that name. But then again, he didn’t know all of their first names. Maybe it was one of the professors that taught a class San didn’t take…? Alchemy? Divination? Or Study of Ancient Runes maybe…?

“Well, then I suggest you become sure about this if you want to keep your job,” the guy named Dave said. “You know what happens if you go against the headmistress.”

Professor Snippet didn’t say anything in return. There was an eerie pause before Dave spoke up again.

“It is finally time. The New Lord is rising.”


	4. Tuesday, November 29th

**Tuesday, November 29th. 07:02AM. Hogwarts, Great Hall. Choi San.**

San took a long sip of his coffee. He hadn’t gotten even a minute of sleep after the conversation he had overheard the previous night. Despite not having an appetite, San figured that breakfast in the Great Hall would be a good time to tell his friends about what he had heard.

“Dude, that sounds like a fucking cult!” Mingi exclaimed with his mouth full of scrambled eggs. Jongho nodded in agreement.

“So we really can’t count on any of the adults,” Yeosang sighed. He looked tired and San figured that he hadn’t gotten much sleep either. He hadn’t touched his food at all, looking even more worried than before and absentmindedly sipping on his own cup of coffee. San noticed how Jongho eyed Yeosang, an unreadable expression on his face. When San asked them if they knew any professors with the first name ‘Dave,’ they all shook their heads no.

None of them were in the mood to talk as much as they usually did. San used his wand to fill his coffee back up. He found himself so lost in his thoughts about Wooyoung that he didn’t even notice his cup of hot beverage overflowing and slowly soaking Jongho’s Daily Prophet.

If only San had known about this sooner. If only he hadn’t sat there and waited around all Sunday. They would’ve had more time to start looking for Wooyoung. Maybe they would’ve found a clue by now. He shouldn’t even have left Wooyoung alone the night of the party. Maybe… maybe if he’d just stayed with him that night, he could’ve prevented all of this… whatever this situation even was.

“Fuck, if I could just go back in time...” San muttered, a wave of guilt and desperation overcoming him. He’d never felt this hopeless before.

After magically drying his newspaper, Jongho wordlessly reached for the bacon and put two large pieces onto Yeosang’s plate, gesturing for him to eat. Yeosang eyed it for a few seconds before giving him a weak smile of thanks in return and picked up one piece, immediately biting into it.

San raised his eyebrows at this curious exchange taking place right in front of him when Mingi suddenly gasped loudly and dropped his fork. A couple of students near them sent annoyed glances his way for being so noisy, but Mingi didn’t pay them any mind. Instead, he grabbed San’s shoulders, his eyes as wide as his plate and an excited grin spreading across his face. “Dude, you’re a fucking _genius_!”

San furrowed his brows. “What are you talking about?”

“If we go back in time, we can see what happened!” Mingi said matter-of-factly.

Yeosang rolled his eyes. “Right, the only problem is that we _can’t_ go back in time,” he pointed out.

“I might know someone who can…” Mingi smirked mysteriously.

Their first class of the day was Herbology with the Hufflepuffs. The pathway to the greenhouses was covered in frozen leaves and the cold November air stung their faces. The sky was covered in gray clouds, but it had stopped snowing. Everyone was glad to finally get into the greenhouse, which was a lot warmer. Professor Longbottom was one of the teachers Jongho had deemed genuinely clueless about the shadiness behind Wooyoung’s disappearance.

Professor Longbottom told the class which plants they were going to work with and gave them instructions to team up while he worked on something else in the next room. Almost every Herbology lesson was like this and San couldn’t complain. It always gave them a good opportunity to chat in class while Longbottom was gone, and that was exactly what they needed today.

San spotted Yunho, who was excitedly putting on his yellow gardening gloves and gave Mingi a knowing smirk.

Mingi sighed gravely. “Do I have to come along? I really don’t want to talk to him,” he whined. His former excitement about this plan had vanished completely and was replaced by the usual bitterness he felt toward Yunho.

“It was your idea,” San reminded him, his smirk intensifying.

In the five years they had been attending Hogwarts, San had only exchanged a few words with Yunho. They’d only gotten to know each other because of Mingi, who obviously knew him a lot better, but the negative tension between them made things a bit difficult.

San could only hope that Yunho thought of Wooyoung as a good enough friend to help them out.

“Man, I wish Yeosang was here. He’s better friends with him…” Mingi complained.

“Whatever, let’s just do this. For Wooyoung. _And_ before Professor Longbottom comes back,” urged San and gave Mingi a push in Yunho’s direction.

When two of them finally came to a halt next to Yunho’s table, the Hufflepuff gave San a friendly smile which dropped as soon as he laid eyes on Mingi. San saw the usual anger towards Mingi in his eyes, but he also spotted the sadness and regret that seemed invisible to Mingi himself.

“What do you want?” Yunho asked coldly, turning away from Mingi and focusing back on the plant in front of him.

Mingi scowled and would’ve probably made a rude comment if San hadn’t elbowed him in the side.

San then got out his wand and muttered, “ _Muffliato,_ ” to make sure that nobody was listening to their conversation.

Yunho furrowed his brows at him. “What’s this about?” he asked suspiciously.

“It’s about Wooyoung…” San spoke up, not wasting any time filling in Yunho on everything they knew.

Yunho’s eyes widened in surprise and shock. “Oh my…” he trailed off, “Have you told anyone about it? The professors? Headmistress Park?”

“That’s the fucked up part! We think the professors are somehow involved in his disappearance...” San said through gritted teeth, clenching his hands to fists at the thought. “And the headmistress wouldn’t tell me anything. Quite the contrary. She’s the one who’s ordering them not to talk, probably even threatening to fire them if they let anything slip.”

Yunho gasped. “What the hell?”

“I know, dude!” San replied. “Jongho is sure that Wooyoung hasn’t been back to his dorm since the night of the party, and yet Park keeps claiming that Wooyoung moved away and transferred schools, but we know that can’t be it!”

“Whoa…” Yunho muttered and shook his head in disbelief. “To think that our school would do something like this… What are we going to do?”

San smiled faintly. He appreciated that Yunho was immediately on board with the idea of taking action. He had no idea what he would’ve done if he’d ratted them out or something. “That’s where you come in. Mingi said you have a time turner - ”

Yunho shot Mingi a glare. “Glad you’re running around telling everyone my secrets,” he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Mingi defensively crossed his arms over his chest. “It was an emergency! And it’s not like you didn’t tell everyone about the birthmark on my left ass cheek when we were twelve!” he protested.

Yunho couldn’t hold back a mischievous snicker. “The world needed to know that people with Texas-shaped birthmarks on their asscheeks exist.”

Mingi’s cheeks flared up with embarrassment. “It really didn’t!” he retorted and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Plus, owning a time turner is illegal. Having a birthmark on your asscheek isn’t.”

“Will you shut up about my asscheek?” Mingi snapped. “And San is the only one I told, you - !”

“Anyway,” San interrupted. “I’m not gonna rat you out to the ministry. Can you help us?”

San turned to look up at his best friend expectantly. When he didn’t say anything, San elbowed him in the side once more.

“Yeah, we really need… you,” Mingi finally brought forth.

Yunho thought about it for a moment. He gnawed on his lip and eyed Mingi once more before nodding. “Alright, fine. I’m in.”

San gave a sigh of relief and smiled. “Thanks, Yunho. Could you come to the former Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom this afternoon? We can discuss everything in detail then. And bring the time turner.”

Yunho waved off and gave a nod. “Sure, I’ll just have to cancel my date.” San didn’t miss how his eyes flickered to Mingi for just a second. A smirk tugged at Yunho’s lips.

Mingi’s eyes widened. “Date? What date? You don’t have a date!”

“Of course I do!”

“Oh yeah? What’s his name?”

Yunho’s smirk widened as he shrugged confidently. “Kim Hongjoong.”

Mingi’s jaw dropped. “ _The_ Kim Hongjoong? Hufflepuff’s former star Seeker? The guy who turned down the head boy position to give it to Teddy Lupin?”

“That’s the one,” Yunho confirmed, his smirk growing.

Kim Hongjoong was one of the most popular and well-known students in Hogwarts. He was a model student; his O.W.L. grades had been the best the school had seen in decades, he was confident, smart, and nice. He was, however, kind of a mysterious guy; he seemed to know a lot about everyone but didn’t let anyone in on his own secrets, not even his closest friends. That was what San had heard at least. He had never exchanged a single word with Hongjoong before.

Mingi scoffed in exasperation. “I can’t believe you!”

“Well, you better believe it! Because I am _over_ you!”

“Oh yeah? Well I’m not – ”

“Guys, please! This really isn’t the time. Could you maybe sort out your relationship issues when Wooyoung isn’t missing?” San interfered before things could get out of hand. The Muffliato Charm was still concealing their conversation, but Professor Longbottom could peek into the room to see how far they were with their task at any given moment.

Mingi and Yunho both looked to their feet, mumbling something along the lines of, “Right... sorry...”

“We should get back to our table,” San addressed Mingi and lifted Muffliato Charm. “And thanks for helping us. Seriously,” he said to Yunho before grabbing Mingi’s sleeve and dragging him along. He saw them exchange one last glance before avoiding each other’s eyes for the rest of the lesson.

After Herbology they returned to the castle for Transfiguration. The class was filled with students from all four houses since only a small amount of students had received a high enough O.W.L in the subject the year before, meaning that only a handful of students were able to continue to learn Transfiguration on a N.E.W.T level.

San and Mingi told Yeosang and Jongho all about their conversation with Yunho and informed them about the meeting in the former Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom this afternoon. They eagerly agreed before pretending to listen to whatever Professor Finch-Fletchley, a tall and dark-haired wizard wearing a neat-looking dark gray robe, was talking about.

But San didn’t focus on Transfiguration at all.

He finally felt that now that they had Yunho on the team, they’d have a decent shot at finding Wooyoung. He didn’t know how exactly Yunho’s time turner worked yet, but at least they would finally make some progress this afternoon. San couldn’t hold back a smile, even when his Cauldron Cake turned into a lime green onion instead of a cabbage for the tenth time in a row.

Mingi glanced over at San’s onion. “At least yours kind of has layers. Mine’s just a potato,” he complained.

It was true. Mingi had transformed his Cauldron Cake into a tiny light green potato. San only chuckled when Finch-Fletchley passed by their table and shook his head at their results.

They all decided to skip their afternoon classes in favor of heading to the former Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom as soon as Professor Finch-Fletchley let them go. It wasn’t like they were going to pay attention anyway and Wooyoung was on top of their priority lists anyway.

Now that the room was back to its normal state, it was hard to believe that a big purple birthday party had ever taken place in there. The bright daylight shining in through the window lit up the room, the ceiling had turned back to normal, all the chairs and tables were aligned in proper rows facing the blackboard, and the familiar coat of dust had settled back in place on every surface.

“Where’s Yunho?” San asked, pulling back one of the chairs and taking a seat. Yunho didn’t have Transfiguration with them, so he was the only one who wasn’t here yet.

“I don’t know, maybe he forgot to cancel his _date_ ,” Mingi muttered bitterly.

That’s when the boy in question tumbled through the door looking slightly disheveled. “Sorry I’m late. Cancelling my date took a little longer than expected. Hongjoong can get quite… clingy.”

Mingi scoffed from his seat on the windowsill. “You don’t have to go into detail about how cheap you are, thank you.”

Yunho’s jaw dropped and he looked ready to square up but Yeosang spoke up before he could say anything. “Guys! Do you think you can bury the hatchet until we have Wooyoung back?”

The two fell silent again.

“Thanks, Yeosang,” San chimed in. “Yunho, did you bring the time turner?”

Yunho nodded and reached into his pocket, pulling out a golden object. It looked like an old pocket watch with a long necklace attached. He held it out in his outstretched hand. “Here it is.”

“So, what exactly is the plan?” Jongho asked, eyeing the time turner curiously.

“We’re going to go back to the night Wooyoung disappeared,” San answered before looking at Yunho, “is that possible?”

“Honey, I could take you all the way back to the fall of the Berlin Wall if you like,” Yunho replied. “All we need to do is tell this thing when and where we’d like to be.”

“Gryffindor Common Room, November 26th around midnight. That’s where we last saw him. We need to find out what happened after I brought him back to his dorm room.”

“Well, then what are we waiting for?” Yeosang asked and jumped to his feet.

The others followed his example and gathered around Yunho. “Alright guys, traveling through time for the first time can be a little weird but it’ll be over before you know it.” He put the necklace around their necks which caused them all to step closer together. “Oh, and I should tell you that we can’t change the events we see. We’ll only be able to observe.”

“What? How inconvenient,” said Jongho.

Yunho gave an apologetic look. “It’s an old model, that’s why.”

“Can’t be helped then. It’s definitely gonna tell us more than the teachers,” San sighed. “Are we all ready?”

Everyone nodded before Yunho cleared his throat and looked at the time turner in his hand. “Take us to the Gryffindor Common Room. November 26th, 2016, 11:55PM.”

At first nothing happened. Then it seemed as though everything went entirely still, like time had stopped running completely. San felt like his stomach was plummeting and he was falling. His insides felt like they were pressed together, then stretched out. He closed his eyes, waiting for it to be over.

Then, everything went still again.

When San opened his eyes and looked around, the only one who didn’t look affected was Yunho. San figured he was probably used to this. Mingi looked a little green and Yeosang was clinging to Jongho’s arm. San took a deep breath, calming himself before taking in his surroundings.

They stood in the middle of the Gryffindor Common Room and it was dark outside. The only source of light in the cozy red room were the flames sizzling in the fireplace. He looked down at himself and, though he wasn't exactly invisible, his body seemed weirdly see-through, almost as if they all had become ghosts.

_“Probably just something outside...”_

San startled at the sound of his own voice. He turned around, to find _himself_ standing across from… Wooyoung.

He hadn’t expected the strong wave of emotions washing over him upon seeing Wooyoung again. It was like all the longing San had felt for him in the past few days had just increased tenfold. His heart constricted and he wanted nothing more than to reach out and pull Wooyoung into his embrace.

 _“Five minutes until midnight. Do you have a last birthday wish I can_ _grant you before it's over?”_ his past self said to Wooyoung.

Seeing and hearing himself from afar was weirder than San had anticipated.

_“Yes, actually. There is one more thing I want to do.”_

And then they were kissing. San felt like he was experiencing it all over again; his lips on Wooyoung’s, Wooyoung’s hand in his hair, their proximity, their _passion_. He heard one of his friends cough awkwardly when things got a little more intense, but he didn’t pay them any mind. He couldn’t take his eyes off Wooyoung.

His giggle after he had told him happy birthday made San want to cry, realizing just how much he had missed the sound of it. He watched himself help Wooyoung off the armchair before leading him up the stairs leading to the sixth-year boys’ dorm.

They didn’t follow Past-San and Wooyoung right away.

“We’re not about to witness anything explicit right?” Yunho asked, eyeing the stairs hesitantly.

“No... that was as far as we went that night...” San told them before heading for the stairs. He only faintly registered his friends trailing after him.

_“I'll see you tomorrow.”_

_“You could also sleep here, you know… with me.”_

_“Next time, babe.”_

“I should have stayed...” San muttered, more to himself than to anyone else.

Yeosang put a hand on his shoulder. “You couldn’t have known,” he told him and gave him a sympathetic look, but San barely registered his words. His eyes were still glued to Wooyoung, who smiled up at Past-San like he put the stars in the sky.

When Wooyoung took a seat on his bed, Past-San leaned down to give him one last kiss before reluctantly turning to leave.

The others simply watched and waited for whatever was going to happen next.

Wooyoung let himself fall back onto his bed as soon as the door had closed behind San, squealing before grabbing one of his stuffed animals with a giddy smile on his face.

“ _Did you see that?_ ” he questioned the stuffed bunny, “ _How could anyone not fall for him?_ ”

San couldn’t suppress his fond smile at the sight.

Wooyoung rolled from side to side on his bed, smiling brightly and giggling away. His cheeks were still slightly flushed from his tipsiness. “ _I really couldn’t have wished for a better –_ ”

A strange noise, similar to the one they had heard in the common room that same evening, made all of them - including Wooyoung - perk up.

“ _Hello?_ ” Wooyoung asked carefully into the silence.

Nobody answered.

Wooyoung sat up and looked around the dimly lit room. “ _Jongho? Is that you?_ ”

Silence.

Wooyoung put his stuffed bunny aside and stayed alert, listening for more noises.

“What the hell is going on?” whispered San, now also looking around. The room around them was completely empty and yet they heard footsteps.

Then, all of a sudden, four hooded wizards appeared seemingly out of thin air.

Wooyoung jumped to his feet, wide-eyed and alarmed by the intruders. “ _Who are –_ ”

But he didn’t get to finish his question as a single flick of one of the wizards’ wands caused him to go completely limp.

Yeosang let out a shriek when Wooyoung collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

San lunged forward, attempting to grab Wooyoung but his hand went right through him.

He had no choice but to watch the two men lift him off the ground and drag him out of the dorm room.

“N-no! Wooyoung!” San called out helplessly. There was nothing he could do to stop them, and he hated it.

San stumbled down the stairs behind them, but by the time he had reached the common room, the men were gone.

Before he could even think about following them the world started to spin again, dragging all of them back to the present.

San found himself back in the former Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, panting from the adrenaline and the fear that was still pumping through his veins. He couldn’t stay still and started pacing around the room in circles.

“He was fucking kidnapped. Minutes after I left him, he was… he was…. Fuck, I should have stayed. I should have protected him. Shit. _Shit!_ ”

San didn’t take notice of his surroundings. The only thing on his mind was the scene he had just witnessed. His hands were shaking, and his heart was angrily beating in his chest. His breath was frantic and uneven.

“He’s been gone for three fucking days!” he yelled. “They could have done Merlin knows what to him by now! Fuck, he might even be dead – ”

He got cut off by a slap in the face.

When he snapped out of it, he realized that Yeosang was the one responsible for it.

San finally looked at the others. They all regarded him with shock and concern.

“San! Listen to me!” Yeosang shouted. “What happened isn’t your fault! Even if you would’ve stayed with him, they would’ve just taken him another time. Or worse, they could have killed you!”

“Then at least I would have died protecting him!”

“And what good would that have done? They would have just covered up your death along with Woo’s disappearance!” Yeosang reasoned, a tear running down his face. His eyes showed all kinds of emotions; desperation, fear, worry, anger, frustration. Everything San felt too. “I need you to calm the fuck down now so we can actually figure out what we’re gonna do to find him!”

San took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves.

Yeosang rarely ever swore, so San could tell that the Ravenclaw was just as worked up as he was. He just managed to conceal it a lot better.

San suddenly felt apologetic for freaking out like that. Wooyoung was important to all of them, not just him. He could tell by their expressions. Jongho, who was usually calm in every situation, looked shaken up. Mingi, who always had a joke ready to loosen up the mood, looked serious and scared. Even Yunho, whom he barely knew, was close to tears. And the school’s number one reserved boy Yeosang had literally just slapped him in the face and yelled at him.

San looked down at his hands. “You’re right. I-I’m sorry, guys...” he said, feeling embarrassed about his outburst.

“It’s okay, man,” said Jongho before putting a hand on his shoulder. “What’s important is what we do next.”

“How did those guys even get in there in the first place?” Mingi questioned. “Did they apparate?”

“That’s impossible. Hogwarts has protection spells that prevent people from apparating in or out of this place,” Yunho pointed out. He didn’t even sound as snarky toward Mingi as he probably would have in any other situation. “No, they must have used a spell, cloak, or potion that made them invisible.”

“You are smarter than you look.”

The sound of a sixth voice made them whirl around. A moment later, Seonghwa appeared right in front of them, seemingly out of thin air. He must’ve used a similar method of disguise as Wooyoung’s kidnappers had.

“Seonghwa? What are you doing here?” asked Yeosang.

“What do we have here?” Seonghwa replied with a smirk. “I bet the headmistress would be very pleased to hear about this little get-together.”

The group exchanged uneasy looks. “Since when is it against the rules to meet up to study?” Yeosang deadpanned, but Seonghwa only scoffed.

“Come on, Yeosang. I know for a fact that you’re not studying. I was here the whole time. I saw everything. You’re trying to reach Wooyoung.”

Jongho shot him a glare. “Damn right we are. What are you gonna do about it?”

Seonghwa pursed his lips. “You used an unauthorized time turner to travel back in time. That is illegal. I’m sure the Ministry of Magic is going to take action against something like that.”

“Oh man,” Mingi muttered, sounding intimidated. “Do we have to go to Azkaban now? My mom’s gonna kill me!”

“Maybe you should leave these things to the authorities instead of childishly rushing to break the law next time. You can consider yourself lucky that the headmistress didn’t expel you right away after you barged into her office like that,” Seonghwa said, giving San a condescending look.

San felt anger well up inside of him once more. “Oh, really? Maybe if the _authorities_ weren’t too far up their own asses, we wouldn’t have had to do anything!”

“Listen, I’m sure Headmistress Park will take care of everything – ”

“The headmistress? Do you even know what you’re talking about? Wooyoung was literally kidnapped and everyone is acting like he just went on a fucking vacation or something because that’s what our dear headmistress is telling them!”

“That’s not – ”

“You know Wooyoung too!” San interrupted. “You’ve been going to the same school as him for years! You’ve been eating three meals a day in the same room as him! Does that not mean anything to you? Do you realize that your beloved authorities would pull the same shit if _you_ were in Wooyoung’s position? They wouldn’t try to save you if you were kidnapped by a bunch of dark wizards!” he didn’t care how many points that jerk would take from Slytherin. He didn’t even care if he was going to be expelled anymore. He would try anything to find out where those people took Wooyoung.

The room fell silent as Seonghwa stared back at San, speechless. His confident stance had faltered a little at those words, but San couldn’t tell what went on in his head. He didn’t care either.

“Go and report us if you want to blindly trust whatever your _authorities_ are feeding you,” San added through gritted teeth, “but we’re not gonna stop until we find him.”

Seonghwa pursed his lips once more. He opened his mouth, about to say something, but ended up deciding against it. He left the room without another word, leaving a deafening silence behind.

San let himself fall into one of the chairs in the corner of the room.

“Do you think he’s gonna rat us out?” Jongho asked carefully. He still seemed uncharacteristically tense.

“I don’t know…” San replied absent-mindedly. He secretly hoped that his speech had caused Seonghwa to feel bad enough to not tell on them. But even if he did, this was far more important than school. Wooyoung’s life was in danger and the school was in on it.

Yeosang shook his head and looked up at Jongho. “Seonghwa is not a bad person. No matter how much he likes to follow rules and order people around, I don’t think he would intentionally do anything to get somebody hurt.”

Yunho nodded. “Right. He’s a total knobhead when it comes to his prefect business, but he probably doesn’t have bad intentions. At least I’d like to believe that.”

“Anyway, what’s next?” Mingi asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

“We need to find out who those guys are and what they want from Woo,” Yeosang replied, taking a seat on one of the tables.

“And most importantly where the fuck they took him so we can get his ass out of there,” San added.

“But how do we do that?” Jongho asked, sitting down next to Yeosang on the table.

“We’ll figure it out. We have to...” Yeosang trailed off. Jongho casually put a comforting arm around his shoulders which seemed to cause some of the tension to leave Yeosang’s body.

“But not today guys. We literally don’t have any clues except for the scene we just saw,” Yunho pointed out. “We wouldn’t even know where to start.”

“Well, we can’t wait any longer!” San argued.

“I know we’re short on time but unless you can shake a plan from your sleeve right now, I don’t see the point in sitting around here when Seonghwa might bust down the doors any minute with the headmistress in tow,” Mingi replied.

San gnawed on his lip, considering his best friend’s words. “Fine... but as soon as one of you can think of anything, we’re meeting up here right away!” he finally gave in, albeit reluctantly.

The others nodded.

Yunho then suddenly pressed the time turner into San’s hand and gave him a meaningful look. “In case Seonghwa comes looking for it on me,” he said. San suspected that that wasn’t the only reason but chose not to comment on it.

Instead, he gave Yunho a grateful smile and clutched the time turner in his hand.

The others began to file out of the room, leaving only San and Yeosang who was still sitting on the table.

San sat down next to him somewhat awkwardly.

Yeosang spoke up first. “Sorry for slapping you earlier... We tried to talk some sense into you, but you were completely frantic,” he said, sheepishly scratching the back of his head.

“It’s okay. I... I don’t know what came over me,” San admitted, a chill running down his spine at the thought. He’d never been so out of it before.

Then again, the love of his life had also never been kidnapped before.

“I get it. I was also this close to losing my shit…” Yeosang admitted as he slid off the table.

San followed him out of the classroom and together, the two of them made their way to the Great Hall for dinner.

San hadn’t eaten since yesterday and he was starting to feel the effects of that. His stomach grumbled painfully.

He turned to look at Yeosang who was walking alongside him in silence, a thoughtful expression on his delicate face.

It didn’t take a genius to see that this whole situation hit Yeosang just as hard as it had hit San. He was his best friend after all.

San suddenly felt the need to distract him. There was nothing they could do for Wooyoung right now and Yeosang looked like he really needed to think about something else.

“So,” he started, “you and Jongho seem to be getting closer.”

Yeosang looked at him with widened eyes.

San wiggled his eyebrows at him, unable to hide a grin at the way Yeosang’s cheeks flushed a little.

“We’ve always been close. We’re friends, after all,” Yeosang shrugged in an attempt to sound casual.

San scoffed in fake exasperation. “He shared his bacon with you this morning. If there’s one thing I know about Choi Jongho it’s that he doesn’t share bacon with anyone. Not even Wooyoung.”

“What are you saying?” Yeosang asked, chuckling.

“I’m not saying anything,” San smirked. “You were so worried about things getting awkward between you two, but from what I can tell, it’s going in the opposite direction.”

Yeosang rolled his eyes playfully. “That’s just because we haven’t talked about that kiss yet. He didn’t say anything about it…”

“But what about you? How do _you_ feel about the kiss, especially after seeing him?” San asked and watched as Yeosang thought about it.

He couldn’t hold back a smile when he replied. “I mean... he’s sweet and he’s a decent guy. After all, he carried me all the way to my dorm the night of the party without any ulterior motives. And the kiss was nice too...” Yeosang admitted, getting flustered.

San nudged his side. “See? That’s something!”

“But I still can’t help but think that it was just something casual to him,” Yeosang mumbled, his cheeks still looking a little red. “He didn’t even mention it last time we were alone after all…”

San waved off. “That’s just because he doesn’t talk that much in general. He’s a man of actions, not a man of words. And his actions say that he’s interested in you. Now it’s time for you to respond to these actions... if that’s what you want,” he replied with a grin.

“But how do I respond to his _actions_ if I don’t even know what I want!”

“I don’t know, maybe try kissing him again.”

Yeosang scoffed in surprise. “What? I can’t – ”

“You can’t or you don’t want to?” San asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

“Neither! I don’t know! I was fine with just being friends, but I haven’t been able to get him off my mind and it bothers me!”

“Why? Is Jongho not your type?”

“I mean, I wouldn’t say that I have a specific type. I just like guys who are strong, brave, smart, kind, have a caring nature and a good sense of humor…” Yeosang explained with a pout.

San laughed. “Dude, that’s literally Jongho.”

“Why are you so dead set on setting us up?” Yeosang exclaimed, though he didn’t seem mad.

“Because I’m a romantic guy and I want my friends to feel the way I feel when I’m with Wooyoung,” San replied just as they reached the bottom of the Great Stairs stepped into the Entrance Hall.

His heart broke a little at the thought of Wooyoung. The whole kidnapping scene came back to him and the reality that it had happened three days ago slapped him in the face.

Was he hurt? What was he doing right now? Where had those people taken him? And why? Despite the temporary distraction, San couldn’t get those questions out of his head.

Yeosang had of course noticed San’s sudden shift in mood and unexpectedly pulled him into a hug.

“I know,” he said. “We’re gonna find him soon. Together.”

San smiled at him when they pulled apart.

He was thankful that all of his and Wooyoung’s friends were so determined to save Wooyoung, even if it probably meant breaking a bunch of laws and risking their very own lives.

“You’re right. And if anybody hurt him, I will personally hunt them down and make sure they’ll regret ever being born.”

The two of them ate dinner together and spent the whole meal speculating about what those guys’ motive for breaking into Hogwarts just to kidnap Wooyoung might have been, but they couldn’t come up with anything reasonable.

Afterward they parted ways in front of the Great Hall and headed back to their respective common rooms.

Once there, San made his way up the winding stairs that led to his dorm. It was almost empty, only Mingi and Yeonjun lounging around on their beds, talking. Mingi was sitting up on his bed, solving another one of his self-made ‘Sudoku’ riddles - he had introduced his pureblooded friends to this muggle game in their second year - and Yeonjun was lying on his back mindlessly letting his wand produce little green sparks as he drew patterns into the air.

Mingi gave San a worried look as he watched him wordlessly come into the room and flop down on his bed.

Yeonjun sat up properly and furrowed his brows at San. “You okay dude? You don’t look so hot,” he commented.

San waved off. “Just tired.”

“Are you sure?” Yeonjun asked and put his wand into the inner pocket of his robes as he came over to sit next to San. “You’ve been walking around like this since yesterday.”

San exchanged meaningful looks with Mingi, and Yeonjun expectantly looked from one to the other.

“Guys. What’s going on?” he asked in confusion.

Mingi let out a sigh before he and San told Yeonjun that they had heard from Knotts that Wooyoung had left the school, careful to leave out the fact that they now knew that he had been kidnapped and that the school was trying to cover it up.

“Damn… He left? No wonder I haven’t seen him since the party,” Yeonjun said with a pout. “I’m really gonna miss him.”

San averted his eyes. “Yeah… I mean, maybe he’s gonna change his mind. Maybe he’ll be back,” he mumbled. After all, Yeonjun had no idea that San, Mingi, Yeosang, and Jongho were planning to save Wooyoung from whoever had kidnapped him that night.

Yeonjun looked at him with a sympathetic expression on his face as a heavy silence took over the dorm room.

Mingi then suggested they use their free evening to get some schoolwork done, which was unusual for him, and San suspected that it was merely an attempt to distract him for a while, but he still agreed to join him. Yeonjun however claimed that he’d already finished his yesterday and decided to head down to the common room to look for Changbin, leaving San and Mingi alone.

They got out their parchment, books, and feathers, and started to work on their essays on Voldemort. However, Mingi ended up being the only one who was writing efficiently. San only stared at his blank piece of parchment for a whole minute, his head feeling like a void.

Even after he finally managed to get some sentences, San abandoned his essay halfway through and started to draw some doodles onto an old Daily Prophet he had found on Mingi’s nightstand instead.

It was from two weeks ago, and the flashy headline said something about the Head of the Law Enforcement of the Ministry of Magic announcing his sudden retirement. Boring political stuff as always.

Now that he thought about it, there hadn’t been any news about any dark wizard communities over the last few weeks. Surely San would’ve heard of them if there had.

Did that mean that the people who had taken Wooyoung were of some secret underground organization? Or a cult of some sort? Or had those two hooded wizards been the only ones behind this whole spiel? And why had they specifically targeted Wooyoung? Breaking into a Hogwarts dormitory was far more difficult than to just grab a random student that was roaming through the hallways.

What did Wooyoung have that they wanted badly enough to abducted him?

San was so deep in thought that he barely heard Mingi’s rant about Yunho.

“He thinks he’s so smart. Such a teacher’s pet, too. Of course he would wanna date perfect little Mister _Oh-I’m-So-Great-And-Popular-Top-Of-The-School_ Kim Hongjoong,” Mingi spat. He had been complaining about Yunho ever since they’d started working on their essays. “I bet he’s only dating him for his reputation anyway.”

San chuckled. “Your jealousy is showing again.”

“I told you, I’m not jealous!” Mingi said defensively.

“Oh yeah?” San asked and put down his feather. “Then why are you so bothered by the fact that he’s dating Hongjoong?”

“Because!” Mingi exclaimed. “Kim Hongjoong is a player. He changes his boytoys as frequently as his underwear. Yunho is just wasting his time with a guy like him.”

San laughed. “You don’t even know him.”

“I’ve heard enough about him to know that much! He’s fishy. I don’t trust him,” Mingi concluded and crossed his arms over his chest.

San only grinned. “Are you sure you’re not just jealous?”

“Yes,” Mingi claimed, though he didn’t sound convincing in the slightest.

San decided not to tease him any longer and returned to his essay.

“Wait, was the Battle of the Department of Mysteries in 1994 or 1995?” asked Mingi after a few minutes of writing.

“Um…” San hummed as he leaned over his abandoned History of Magic book next to him, letting his eyes skim over the page. “It says June 18th1996.”

“Right,” Mingi replied and moved on with his text, sighing.

“I bet _Yunho_ would have known that from the top of his head.”

“Shut up.”

About an hour later, the two of them got tired of working and called it a day. San washed up and got ready for bed, hiding the time turner in his bedside drawer.

As soon as he closed his eyes, the image of Wooyoung appeared in front of him, all alone and defenseless.

It was as if the scene had been burned into his brain. The way those guys had stunned him so easily and taken him away without anyone noticing. The imagination of Wooyoung getting tortured somewhere and nobody coming to save him.

San balled his hands to fists. The guilt was burning in his veins. He could’ve prevented all of this if only he'd stayed with him that night. He could’ve protected him.

His eyes shot back open. He knew he wasn’t getting any sleep tonight.

Instead he sat up on his bed, deciding that he might as well do something useful. He continued to try to come up with a way to find out where Wooyoung was, but his mind was blank.

All he could think about was how he missed him more than ever. Looking at him, talking to him, touching him, kissing him… and simply having him by his side.

He realized just how much he'd taken it for granted, the fact that he was able to see Wooyoung whenever he pleased. He’d wasted so much time playing his flirtatious games with him.

San scoffed at his past self for thinking that they had all the time in the world.

That’s when his eyes widened.

 _All the time in the world_ …

San sat up on his bed and scrambled to reach for his bedside drawer and took out the golden time turner almost automatically.

Now that he had it to himself, he decided to examine the device more carefully. Attached to the necklace was a golden palm-sized hourglass with a glittery substance in it that seemed neither fully solid nor liquid. It looked a bit roughened up, as if it had been in use for many decades.

San wondered where Yunho had gotten a device as valuable as this. Sure, it was impossible to change the past with it, seeing as San had been unable to do anything to help Wooyoung earlier, but being able to revisit any past event like this was very useful.

He looked around the room, making sure that all of his roommates were fast asleep before he put the chain around his neck, closed his eyes, and whispered, “take me to the foot of the Astronomy Tower. November 15th, 2016, 5:15PM.”

Once again, as soon as the words had left San’s lips, time seemed to stand still for a moment before he started to feel like he was falling, and his insides did their thing.

He kept his eyes closed until he heard the voices of a dozen students pouring down the winding stairs of the Astronomy Tower, chatting and complaining about their load of homework.

Past-San was standing in the center of the circular space, smiling in anticipation as his eyes scanned the crowd. He was of course waiting for Wooyoung.

San felt his stomach turn when he looked at his other self, happy and carefree. He couldn’t believe that this had been him only two weeks ago. It felt like a lifetime ago now.

He wished he could call out to his past self. He wished he could warn him and tell him to never leave Wooyoung’s side.

San’s heart skipped a beat when he finally saw Wooyoung, accompanied by Yeosang and Jongho.

He was listening to whatever Yeosang was telling him about as they followed the stream of students leading them down the stairs, and was just about to respond to his best friend when he stopped in his tracks, surprised to see Past-San standing there.

His beautiful smile lit up his face.

 _“What are you doing here? I thought we weren’t meeting until after dinner!”_ he asked, checking his wristwatch before letting Past-San pull him into a hug.

Past-San smirked and kissed his forehead. _“I couldn’t wait,”_ he said.

Jongho playfully rolled his eyes at them and excused himself to head to the library. Not wanting to be a third-wheel, Yeosang decided to follow him, leaving Wooyoung and Past-San behind.

San still thought it was weird to watch himself from another perspective, but as he followed Past-San and Wooyoung to the Room of Requirement, he slowly got used to the feeling of being an invisible observer.

They stopped in front of the wall that would magically transform into a large door as soon as they decided on what to wish for.

Wooyoung took Past-San’s hand. _“So, what’s the plan for today?”_ he asked.

Past-San grinned. _“Feel like watching a movie?”_

 _“A movie's fine too but I actually have a different idea,”_ Wooyoung said excitedly. “ _It just came to me._ ”

Past-San smiled fondly at the Gryffindor’s obvious excitement.

 _“What is it,”_ he asked.

Wooyoung didn’t respond and instead led him through the door with a big grin on his face. San followed his past self and Wooyoung into the Room of Requirement which had now turned into a so-called bowling alley.

He smiled fondly at the memory that displayed itself in front of him. It had been one of the most amazing and fun days of the school year even though he’d never seen or even heard of bowling before that day.

 _“What’s all of this?”_ Past-San asked, looking around the bowling alley.

The two of them stood in a very long and dimly lit room with two long wooden lanes with a ball rack in between them to their right and a cozy-looking purple sofa to their left. At the end of the lanes was a set of ten pins each and above them was a large display that showed a score of zero points for each lane. Wooyoung’s grin widened and he skipped over to the ball rack to pick up a bowling ball.

 _“It’s called bowling and it’s honestly one of the most fun games muggles have come up with,”_ he said. _“You basically take one of these balls and throw it across this lane to knock over the pins.”_

 _“Don’t worry, babe, I have quite the experience with balls,”_ Past-San said with a suggestive smirk.

“ _I hate you,_ ” Wooyoung giggled and smacked his upper arm lightly before continuing. _“You have two chances per round to throw the ball. If you can knock all the pins over at once, it’s called a strike. If you can clear them with your second throw, it’s called a spare. We play 10 rounds and the player with the highest score,”_ he pointed at the score board above the lane, _“wins the game.”_

 _“Sounds easy enough,”_ Past-San commented with a shrug.

 _“Oh yeah? Show me what you got then,”_ Wooyoung challenged, making an inviting gesture towards the bowling lane.

Past-San stepped closer to the ball rack, inspecting the bowling balls. He shed his robe, loosened his tie and rolled up the sleeves of his white button-up before picking up a green ball and walked over to the lane.

He shot Wooyoung a confident grin before sending the ball across the lane almost perfectly, like he had been playing bowling his entire life.

San chuckled at the way Wooyoung’s jaw dropped when Past-San knocked over every single pin. He himself didn’t know where his skills had come from, but it certainly wasn’t unwelcome.

 _“H-how did you...?”_ Wooyoung stammered. Past-San grinned proudly and stepped aside to make room for the Gryffindor.

 _“I guess I’m just a natural,”_ Past-San said cockily.

 _“Beginner’s luck...”_ Wooyoung grumbled in response.

San’s heart warmed at the way Wooyoung pouted until his past self chuckled and kissed his cheek which made the pout go away in an instant.

At the same time, he felt regretful for not kissing him properly that day.

Wooyoung, now with renewed energy, picked up a bowling ball, aimed, and then released it. He watched with anticipation as the ball rolled down the lane – and also knocked over all the pins.

Wooyoung punched the air. _“It’s on,”_ he said to Past-San, who looked back at him with a competitive glint in his eyes.

Past-San’s next try wasn’t quite as glorious as the first one, but he still managed to knock over seven out of ten pins. Wooyoung got eight pf them, which gave him a reason to tease Past-San.

They continued for a few more rounds, their scores remaining pretty close until they eventually ended up with a tie in the second to last round.

 _“Are you ready to accept defeat yet?”_ Wooyoung asked cheekily.

 _“Game’s not over yet, babe, you better watch out,”_ Past-San pointed out with a grin, sending a pat to Wooyoung’s butt as he passed him on his way to the foul line.

 _“How about we bet on something, then? Since you seem to be so sure of yourself,”_ Wooyoung challenged.

Past-San perked up and turned back around to face him. _“What do you suggest?”_

 _“Hm...”_ Wooyoung tapped his chin in thought. _“How about this. If I win, I get a kiss on the cheek,”_ he suggested innocently.

 _“Or_ _how about if I win, which I will, I’ll give you a hickey,”_ Past-San suggested. 

Wooyoung guffawed but the competitiveness eventually won over.

_“Fine but just to be clear: I won’t be the one hiding a hickey over the next few days.”_

_“I admire your confidence, babe. I hope you won’t take your defeat too personally,”_ Past-San teased before facing the lane again and releasing the ball.

Despite them not being able to hear him, San stifled a laugh at the way Wooyoung’s pout returned as Past-San landed another strike.

 _“There’s still a chance this ends with a tie!”_ he declared as he picked up the final bowling ball from the rack.

Past-San chuckled. _“No pressure,”_ he said teasingly.

 _“Seriously, how are you so good at this?”_ Wooyoung complained, more to himself than to Past-San. He aimed and took one last deep breath before releasing the ball.

Despite knowing what the result was going to be, San watched in anticipation as the ball rolled down the lane and crashed into the pins. Eight were knocked over right away but the remaining two toppled. One fell, but the other one straightened itself out, standing proudly on the far right of the lane – marking Past-San’s win.

Wooyoung fell to the floor in a dramatic manner while Past-San cheered, smirking triumphantly.

 _“Come on, at least your punishment won’t be that bad,”_ Past-San tried to console him, holding out his hand to pull Wooyoung back to his feet.

The Gryffindor promptly wrapped his arms around Past-San’s waist.

 _“Easy for you to say; you won’t have to hide an entire hickey from the whole Quidditch team,”_ Wooyoung complained, his voice muffled by Past-San’s shirt.

 _“Aw, I’m sorry, Wooyoungie,”_ Past-San said, even though he truly wasn’t.

Wooyoung pulled back with a fake glare before baring his neck. _“Just do it, will you?”_

Past-San grinned and leaned forward, only to press a short kiss to it. _“Where’s the fun in that? I’ll do it later; make you savor it,”_ he promised.

_“You’re mean...”_

_“You won’t be saying that_ later _...”_

They settled down as the room around them changed into something more comfortable.

Wooyoung’s displeased expression faded when Past-San put his arm around his shoulders and pulled him into his side. They were now in a relatively small bedroom with a large bed, a wooden wardrobe, a small bookshelf, and a desk. The wall was full of pictures of San with his family and friends and the bed was covered in stuffed animals and snacks.

 _“Is this your room at home?”_ Wooyoung asked with a smile, looking at one of the moving family pictures pinned to the wardrobe.

Past-San hummed in response and took a seat on his bed as he watched him check out every last detail he could find in San’s room. Wooyoung pointed out some things that interested or surprised him and even laughed about the poster of two half-naked men pinned to his door. Once he had seen enough, he let himself fall onto the bed behind where Past-San was sitting. He sighed happily.

Past-San soon followed his example and lay down next to him before sneaking an arm around his waist. _“What do you want to do now?”_ he asked.

Wooyoung smirked at him. _“Depends,”_ he said, propping himself up on one elbow, _“do you have condoms?”_

Past-San almost choked and gave him a bewildered look while Wooyoung broke out laughing.

 _“Just kidding!”_ Wooyoung defused him and snuggled further into his side, still chuckling. _“Cuddling is fine for now,”_ he replied, a content smile on his face.

San chuckled along with him as he watched the surprise on his past self’s face fade. Sometimes he forgot that Wooyoung wasn’t as innocent as he let on most of the time.

 _“Alright then,”_ Past-San replied and pulled Wooyoung closer, looking at him like he hung the stars in the sky.

San could understand now why his friends had been so vocal about him not having asked Wooyoung to be his boyfriend yet. He knew he was in love with him, there was no doubt about that, but he'd been unaware of just how much it showed on his face.

 _“So... your birthday is coming up...”_ Past-San began after a while, _“do you have any plans?”_

_“Not really. As long as I get to spend it with you, I’m fine with anything. Even spending the whole day in bed.”_

Past-San grinned at the thought. _“I’m sure that could be arranged. Anything else?”_

Wooyoung looked at him and bit his lip. _Nope. Surprise me.”_

They lay there for minutes, just cuddling and talking about nothing, until Wooyoung brought up his punishment once more.

_“So about that hickey…”_

_“Burning for it, are we?”_ Past-San teased, causing him to playfully roll his eyes at him. He then tucked at his own robes, exposing his collarbone.

 _“Just get it over with!”_ Wooyoung demanded.

_“Well, who am I to say no if you’re being so needy about it.”_

And with that, he climbed on top of Wooyoung, one leg on each side of his hips and smirked as he leaned down to him. He aimed for Wooyoung’s lips at first and watched as the boy beneath him let his eyes fall shut.

Only a few centimeters remained between their lips before Past-San swerved to the side and pressed a small kiss right below his ear instead.

“ _You tease,”_ Wooyoung complained but let his hands rest on Past-San’s hips and moved his head to the right to give him more access.

Past-San only chuckled and continued to leave kisses all over Wooyoung’s neck, looking for a good place to plant his mark.

A soft sigh escaped Wooyoung as Past-San’s lips grazed the sensitive skin, only to be replaced by a content hum when Past-San started to suck on it. Wooyoung’s hands moved from his hips to his back, pulling Past-San closer and gripping into his robes instead.

He soon pulled away to admire his work and gave Wooyoung a confident grin. _“There you go,”_ he said softly.

The two of them stared into each other’s eyes for a moment and San noticed a blush spread over Wooyoung’s cheeks, perfectly complimenting the red mark on his neck.

Wooyoung put a hand on Past-San’s cheek and looked up at him with so much affection in his eyes that San felt his heartbeat pick up even though he was just watching from the outside.

 _“San,”_ Wooyoung whispered, earning a quiet hum from Past-San. _“You’re so – ”_

Suddenly the world started to spin, and before San could hear what Wooyoung was going to say, he was back in his dorm, letting himself fall back into the pillows.

He sighed, clutching the time turner in his hand and pressing it to his chest. It seemed so long ago since he had last seen Wooyoung and watching them on that date just made San miss him even more.

“Just where are you, Wooyoung...” he whispered to himself.

He felt even worse than before. San wanted to stay awake and find a way to get him back, but his exhaustion caught up to him and his eyes fell shut, the time turner in his hand and Wooyoung on his mind. 

**Tuesday, November 29th. 11:41PM. Ministry of Magic, Department of Mysteries. Jung Wooyoung.**

Wooyoung kicked the plate back through the small gap between the bars of his cell and the cold stone floor. He gave the guard a nasty glare before plopping back down on the chair by the wall, crossing his arms over his chest. He hadn’t eaten in days and that steak smelled extremely tasty, but he still turned away, determined to reject any food from those people.

The guard seemed indifferent about his choice, picked the plate back up, and simply left the room. Wooyoung heard his footsteps move away from the door outside. Then everything went silent again.

It had been like this ever since Wooyoung woke up in that cell. A guy would come in – Wooyoung had counted three different guys so far – bring him a plate of food, have him reject it, and leave again. Wooyoung figured that about three days must have passed since he had woken up, seeing as those guys offered him three meals a day with what felt like around five hours in between.

He had no idea for how long he’d been unconscious after they’d taken him here though.

Wooyoung still had no idea how he had gotten into this cell or why those people were keeping him here, and he had slowly given up on asking the guys that brought him food about it. None of them ever replied. They didn’t even look at him. At this point he just wanted to know what they wanted and return to Hogwarts.

He felt like they were waiting for something – or someone.

Wooyoung’s stomach gave a painful grumble and he decided to get up to distract it with some water from the sink. He splashed his face with water, hoping it would help drive away his headache somehow.

The bars of his cell split the full room in half, keeping Wooyoung about two meters away from the door and leaving some space for anyone who entered through it. The room was almost empty, but the posters and blackboards hanging on the walls indicated room had been an office of some sort before someone had turned it into a cell. The walls were plain and white, just like the fancy stone floor. Everything looked way too neat for a hostage room and Wooyoung figured that keeping him in there might have been a spontaneous decision. A couch, an office chair, and a small bathroom next door were all they left Wooyoung to work with on his side of the bars.

Suddenly, the door opened, causing Wooyoung to come back out of the next-door bathroom. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw who had entered.

“Uncle Stephan?!”

Wooyoung couldn’t believe his eyes. Out of all the people he had expected to come for his rescue he hadn’t considered his favorite uncle. His thin black hair looked as unkempt as always, and his dark eyes showed relief when he spotted Wooyoung.

“How did you get in here?” asked Wooyoung, whisper-yelling, “And what took you so long? I’ve been locked in here for days!” He stumbled forward and gripped onto the bars of his cell. A shimmer of hope flickered in his chest at the prospect of getting out of this place. The relief of finally seeing a familiar face was almost overwhelming.

Stephan only smiled. “Oh, Wooyoung. Lively and amusing as ever.”

Wooyoung furrowed his brows. He wasn’t sure if he’d describe being held captive for multiple days without any context or explanation as _lively and amusing_. On the contrary, Uncle Stephan seemed to be the amused one. Wooyoung would have expected him to offer some reassurance but he looked almost... pleased.

Stephan watched his shocked expression and chuckled when realization finally washed over him. Wooyoung’s heart dropped when he realized that his uncle was, in fact, not here to save him, at all. He backed away from the bars, looking back at him in disbelief.

“You’re… you’re not here to save me, are you?” Wooyoung’s voice was shaking.

Stephan continued to smile at him. “Why aren’t you eating, Wooyoung? You look absolutely famished.”

Wooyoung scoffed. He couldn’t believe this. His favorite uncle, who had always been like a second father to him, stood there, smiling at him through the bars. He still had no idea why those people had taken him here, but the fact that Stephan was one of them filled him with anger. He was no longer whispering. “Are you saying that you’re the one who kidnapped me then? You know, if you wanted to hang out you could’ve just sent a fucking letter.”

“Oh I didn’t kidnap you. I just work for the people who did. I gave them the facilities they needed to keep you here.”

“Like that’s any better! Why am I here?” Wooyoung gripped the bars of his cell once more in his newfound anger.

His arm shot forward as he tried to grab Stephan, but his uncle casually stepped out of reach. “You might wanna sit down for this,” he chuckled and plopped down on one of the chairs by the door himself.

Wooyoung glared. “I’m just fine, thank you,” he growled, his grip around the bars tightening.

“Listen closely, Wooyoung. Times are changing,” Stephan started. The excitement in his voice made Wooyoung even angrier. “The New Lord is rising and he’s planning to pick up where Lord Voldemort left off. He’s going to bring today’s wizarding world back to greatness. He’s going to make everything better, Wooyoung!”

“Hold on, who the fuck is the _‘New Lord_ supposed to be? _’_ ” Wooyoung interrupted.

“You don’t need to know that,” Stephan smiled. “What’s important is that he’s going to initiate the Cleanse. He’s finally going to get rid of those filthy blood traitors.”

Wooyoung’s head hurt. The Cleanse? Filthy blood traitors? He had never heard any of those words come from his uncle’s mouth before. “What are you talking about?”

“You’ll understand when the time is right, Wooyoung. You’ll understand that us wizards have to protect our bloodlines. We have to stop mingling with those dirt-blooded people and filthy muggles. We need to stop lowering ourselves to their sort… like your father…” An ugly and hateful expression took over Stephan’s usually gentle face. “He became one of them when he disgraced our family by marrying a mere muggle woman.”

“Hey! Don’t talk about my parents like that! You’re the only traitor here!” Wooyoung shouted angrily, but Stephan only smiled at him as if he thought of him as a cute child throwing a tantrum over sweets.

“Don’t worry, boy. You’ll see them for what they really are one day. The New Lord will help you see the truth. The Cleanse will come, and it will make our lives better!”

Wooyoung started to think that his uncle might not be entirely sane and rolled his eyes impatiently. If he wasn’t sure that he needed to get out of this place before, he was now. But first he needed to get as much information as he could. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, the Cleanse, I got it. That still doesn’t explain why I’m here! What does any of this have to do with me? I’m just a regular student who likes Quidditch and boys!”

Stephan rose from his seat and laughed excitedly. “You’re so much more than that, Wooyoung! You’re special! You’re the key to all of this!”

Yeah, his uncle was definitely a nutcase. “How am I the key to anything?”

“You’re exceptionally good at Divination, am I right? Top of your class? Best in the whole school? Have you never wondered why that is?” Stephan asked excitedly. Wooyoung shrugged in response.

It was true. Wooyoung’s Divination teachers had always been impressed by his skills. It had been his favorite subject ever since the first lesson in his third year. His grades were indeed top-notch, and he’d never had any difficulty with the subject. He often said it came to him naturally.

“That’s because it runs in the family. Your ancestors have always been talented at Divination and Legilimency. Many of them were famous Seers and Oracles and have given some of the most important prophecies known to the wizarding world. Extremely powerful wizards and witches. And very useful,” Stephan explained.

“Wait, Legilimency?”

“The ability to read and control the minds of others. Usually it is a skill that requires a lot of practice and a long learning process that takes multiple years. But it’s different with you; you were born with that skill and you don’t even need a wand to do it. And now that you’re finally seventeen, your powers will only get stronger.”

“Th-that’s not true. Wouldn’t I know if I could do anything like that?” Wooyoung asked skeptically.

“You probably did it without realizing it. It’s a skill only few wizards have,” Stephan explained, “one of them being Lord Voldemort himself.”

A chill ran down Wooyoung’s spine at the thought that he could have anything in common with the darkest wizard of all time. Now that he thought about it, Wooyoung realized that there really had been instances where he had sort of known what was going on in people’s minds. It wasn’t really like reading their thoughts; it was more like having a general idea of what kind of opinion or stance a person had or what kind of mood they were in. Wooyoung had always assumed that skill was just part of being a wizard and that anyone could do it. Stephan seemed to recognize the realization on Wooyoung’s face and laughed. Wooyoung quickly tried to change the subject. “Fine, so let’s just say I really am some kind of Divination and Legilimency master. What does that have to do with anything?”

“That’s the important part. We need you for our cause,” Stephan smiled. “You’re going to use your talent to read a prophecy for us.”

“What prophecy?”

“A prophecy that’s going to take the New Lord to power. It’s going to give him a great advantage over his opponents. Think about it; he can kill anyone who might try to take him down in the future before they’ve even heard of him! Not everyone can be protected by the love of their pathetic mudblood mother like Harry Potter,” Stephan said, “No, no, the New Lord will be even more powerful than Lord Voldemort ever was!”

Wooyoung’s head was starting to hurt from all this crazy talk and his irritation grew with every time Stephan called someone a mudblood or anything of the sort. “If that New Lord guy is so great, why doesn’t he just read that stupid prophecy record himself?”

“It’s not that easy. Only the subject of the individual prophecy can take the prophecy record off its shelf in the new Hall of Prophecies and only a wizard with the potential to become a powerful Seer can read it. If anyone else tries to inspect it with their hands, they will be afflicted with instant madness.”

“Why me, though? I can’t be the only person in the world who has the potential to be a Seer!”

“Because you were convenient! It was easy to get you out of Hogwarts once you turned seventeen and since I’m your uncle, I was the one who provided a powerful Seer to the New Lord!” Stephan continued excitedly. “What an honor! I was able to serve the New Lord and helped him pave the way! Me! I gave him the key to the Cleanse!”

“You’re _insane_ , Uncle Stephan. All of you are,” Wooyoung growled, shaking his head. He was disgusted by the man standing in front of him. A man he used to consider family. A man smiling erratically at the thought of harming innocent people for some ridiculous cause. “I’m not helping you and your weird cult!”

“You have no choice. As soon as the preparations are done, you’re going to read the prophecy and the Cleanse will begin,” Stephan shrugged.

“Just you wait. My friends are going to find me sooner or later!”

His uncle chuckled once more. “Your friends think that you moved. They’re not going to look for you. We made sure of that.”

Wooyoung turned around. He couldn’t stand to look at him any longer.

“You’re gonna open your eyes soon. We’re going to change the world and you’re going to help us,” Stephan announced. Wooyoung could hear the stupid smile in his uncle’s voice and it made him ball his hands to fists. He heard his footsteps and the creak of the door opening.

Wooyoung let himself sink to the floor as soon as the door had fallen shut. He ran a hand through his messy hair. “What the fuck,” he muttered to himself. His headache had intensified, and his mind was racing.

He subconsciously reached for the necklace San had given him. _San_. Wooyoung was sure that San wouldn’t fall for those people’s lies so easily. San would never believe that Wooyoung just left without a word. Neither would Yeosang. Those two definitely wouldn’t go down without a fight.

Those people didn’t do anything to them, did they? He suddenly became worried about his friends’ well-being. He could only hope that those people really believed that San and Yeosang were gullible enough to buy their lie.

Eventually, Wooyoung decided that he would eat the next time those people brought him food. If he was going to try to escape this place, he needed all the energy he could get. Whether his friends were somehow going to come for him or not, he needed to regain his strength. He needed to get out of here.

There were still too many things he needed to tell San.


	5. Wednesday, November 30th

**Wednesday, November 30th. 9:47AM. Hogwarts, Headmistress’ Office. Park Seonghwa.**

“What’s the reason you called me here once again, headmistress?” asked Seonghwa, standing in the center of the room somewhat awkwardly, a few meters away from the headmistress’ desk.

As always, he felt like he was being interrogated.

The headmistress glanced up from the piece of parchment she seemed to have been reading before he had come in.

“Oh, Mr. Park. Finally.” With a flick of her wand, she quickly let the parchment disappear in one of her drawers.

Seonghwa immediately noticed that she didn’t look as perfectly neat as usual; her face looked somewhat tired, her eyes were underlined by a hint of dark circles, and a few strands of hair had fallen out of her tight bun. It was obvious that something was occupying her, and the fact that it was visible from the outside meant that it was something big.

“I want you to continue keeping an eye on Choi San. He and his friends have been causing trouble, harassing teachers with unwanted questions,” she said.

“Of course, headmistress,” Seonghwa replied politely.

“I want you to report every little thing that he does, no matter how irrelevant.”

Seonghwa watched the thoughtful expression on her face as she stared into the fire that lit up the room. Of course she tried her best to hide whatever stressed her out in order to stay professional like she always did.

It worried Seonghwa that she seemed so obsessed with having him spy on San. It wasn’t the first time she had told him to keep an eye on certain troublesome students, but she had never targeted anyone like this.

Seonghwa really wanted to know what caused her to act like this all of a sudden.

 _‘Everyone is acting like he just went on a fucking vacation or something because that’s what our dear headmistress is telling them!’_

How much truth was there to those words? San had been so heated and emotional about the matter, Seonghwa couldn’t shake the bad feeling in his guts.

Gnawing on his lower lip, Seonghwa contemplated his next words. “But… he – Choi San I mean – seems rather worried about his friend and I can’t help but wonder why - ”

“Jung Wooyoung has left this school. I told him that when he barged into my office like a maniac. He has no valid reason to worry,” she said defensively, and her professional façade seemed to flicker for a moment.

She wasn’t even looking at him, but Seonghwa still felt vulnerable in front of her.

“I-I know, I’m sorry,” Seonghwa replied, though his conflicting feelings remained, uncomfortably tugging at his insides. “It’s just… he seemed _really_ concerned.”

She didn’t react. A tense silence settled between them.

“Mother, did Wooyoung really transfer?”

She finally looked at him and he instantly regretted asking. Her voice was calm, but a glint of anger was evident in her eyes. “I don’t know how many times you want me to repeat myself, Seonghwa. For the last time, Mr. Jung has transferred to a different school,” she said firmly before looking away again. “Now, please resume your duties.”

“Yes, headmistress.” Seonghwa gave a respectful bow and turned to leave her office.

“I want to hear your report by tomorrow morning. Don’t let Choi San and his friends start anything.”

“Of course,” Seonghwa said as the door closed behind him. He leaned back against the door and sighed.

His head preoccupied with doubts, he slowly climbed down the winding stairs. Heavy rain was pattering on the castle’s walls and tall windows of the hallway. There was nobody else there, and Seonghwa was just maundering along, too deep in thought to take notice of his surroundings.

Something about the way his mother had faltered left an unpleasant feeling in his stomach. It was obvious that she was hiding something from him. Something very bad.

Was Seonghwa still acting on the right side?

Maybe the headmistress simply knew something that San didn’t. Maybe she had a good reason for trying to sweep Wooyoung’s disappearance under the rug.

Then again, he also couldn’t forget the desperation in San’s voice after he and his friends had just gotten back from their trip through time. He didn’t know what exactly they had seen there, but judging by the horrified looks on their faces, it couldn’t have just been Wooyoung moving to another school.

Seonghwa didn’t know what to believe anymore.

He ran a hand through his dark hair in frustration before deciding to head to the prefect’s bathroom to clear his head.

**Wednesday, November 30th. 10:33AM. Hogwarts, Muggle Studies Classroom. Choi San.**

Normally, San would always spend his time in Muggle Studies class sneaking glances at Wooyoung, teasing him and flirting with him, since it was the only class none of their other friends had taken.

But today, the empty seat next to him only reminded San of the fact that Wooyoung was still gone and that he still hadn’t done anything to save him.

He sighed and let his chin rest in the palm of his hands, pretending to pay attention to the lesson.

San usually enjoyed Muggle Studies. He found muggles and their ability to live without magic fascinating, especially since he had grown up surrounded by it in his wizard family, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care about how advanced muggle technology was today. All sorts of other thoughts occupied his mind; where Wooyoung had been taken to, whether he was hurt, what might happen if they didn’t find him soon enough…

 _Don’t even think about that,_ he told himself over and over, and shook the thought out of his head once more.

Professor Bones was engaged in an enthusiastic discussion about virtual reality with Ju Haknyeon, a muggleborn student, but San only listened half-heartedly as he drew a sketch of a key pendant – the one he had given to Wooyoung - on the piece of parchment in front of him.

It had only been four days since he’d given the pendant to him, but it felt like a lifetime ago. San heaved a sigh as he looked at his drawing of it. He didn’t realize that it was possible to miss someone this much.

Then all of a sudden, an odd sleepiness took over him.

It was strange, he just couldn’t seem to keep his eyes open, but it didn’t feel like a natural tiredness. It was like the sleepiness was trying to draw him in, like a voice in the back of his mind was telling him to relax for a bit. When he finally let his eyes fall shut, it was like a strange force didn’t allow him to open them again. It was as if he had instantly fallen into a deep sleep.

Images started to appear before his inner eye; a dark corridor with a black marble floor, black-tiled walls, a black-tiled ceiling, and a black door at the end of it, torches burning with blue flames that didn’t give off any warmth, a reflection on the jet black floor, but it wasn’t San’s. It was… _Wooyoung’s_.

San didn’t feel like he was dreaming. It felt like his mind was still wide awake, half trying to fight this force that was keeping him in this state and half wanting to see where it was trying to lead him.

The scenery changed. A long room, filled with a beautiful, dancing light that sparkled like gems. A white door with a huge lock on it saying ‘ _Office B_ ’ in fancy golden letters. Next he felt a strong urgency to open that door take over him. It was like he knew something important was inside that office, something he desperately needed. Again, an image of Wooyoung appeared in front of his eyes.

San suddenly snapped out of his trance when he heard Professor Bones announce the end of the lesson and told gave them a small assignment. He looked around, but nobody seemed to have noticed him dozing off. He quickly let his book slide into his bag and scrambled out of the classroom.

Outside, he pulled his feather back out and hastily drew the images he saw on a piece the parchment he had used to sketch on during the lesson.

He told the others all about what had happened when they met up in the former Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom about half an hour later.

“I’m not sure what kind of place it is yet, but I know that that’s where they’re keeping him! I just know it!” San said enthusiastically and observed their expressions. They exchanged uneasy glances amongst one another. “Guys! All we have to do is find out where that place is!”

“I don’t know, San…” said Yunho who gave him a somewhat apologetic look. “You were probably just worried and exhausted… and then you dozed off…”

Mingi bit his lip in hesitation, seemingly contemplating his next words. He eyed Yunho before reluctantly nodding in agreement. “I have to agree. I think we’re all overwhelmed with this situation and we all want to help Wooyoung. I don’t know if we should trust a dream to tell us where he is, bro. It probably wasn’t real…”

San shook his head. “No, I’m telling you, it was real! It wasn’t a dream. It was more like a vision or something. Like a memory,” he tried to explain once more. “It was like a long and dark corridor. There were torches with blue flames, and everything felt really cold. Then there was a long room with some kind of sparkly light and a white door at the end of it. And then I saw Wooyoung!” He once again looked around and watched his friends’ reactions.

Yeosang wore a thoughtful look and turned to Jongho, who just shrugged.

San threw up his arms. “Look, I _know_ it sounds crazy. But I felt that Wooyoung was behind that door. I’m sure of it!”

“That…sounds like the Department of Mysteries.”

Mingi almost fell off his chair when a sixth voice spoke up out of nowhere. Not long after, Seonghwa appeared – seemingly out of thin air – on a table right next to Mingi, his eyes widened and a shocked expression on his face.

“You need to stop showing up like that! Fuck, I swear to god!” Mingi exclaimed, dramatically clutching his heart. “Are you here to spy on us again?”

Seonghwa didn’t pay him any mind and instead had his eyes fixed on San. “Can… can I see the picture you said you drew?” he asked, seeming uncharacteristically unarrogant.

San eyed him suspiciously but decided to show him the picture anyway. Something about the way Seonghwa’s eyes showed genuine curiosity mixed with shock and worry made San trust him – for now at least.

Seonghwa’s eyes widened once more when he looked at San’s drawing. “That really is the Department of Mysteries!”

“You mean _the_ Department of Mysteries? In the Ministry of Magic?” Jongho asked with raised eyebrows.

“Yes… I…” Seonghwa trailed off. He had a somewhat pained look in his eyes that San couldn’t quite explain.

Yeosang stood up from his position next to Jongho and gave Seonghwa a suspicious look. “Wait. Why would you know what the Department of Mysteries looks like from the inside? It’s top secret. Only the Unspeakables are allowed in there.”

Everyone’s eyes fell on Seonghwa. He bit his lip and hesitated before answering. “My father was one of them – the Unspeakables I mean. He took me down to the Department of Mysteries a couple of times when I was a kid.”

An awkward moment of silence took over.

“W-well, that still doesn’t explain why you’re still here, spying on us! Didn’t you say you wanted to report us?” Mingi asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

Seonghwa looked to the ground. “I know. I was going to. But…” he hesitated once more. “I want to help you find Wooyoung instead.”

Another pause followed, in which they exchanged surprised glances.

“What made you change your mind?” Jongho asked. As opposed to Mingi, he sounded genuinely curious rather than accusatory.

“Well…what San said yesterday, for one. About the fact that the professors aren't doing anything even though something is clearly wrong here. I truly believed the headmistress would take care of a situation like this, that she would protect the students no matter what,” Seonghwa explained before his expression turned bitter. “but now I know that she won’t.”

“I don’t know. I don’t trust him,” Mingi decided stubbornly.

“I understand why you’d feel that way,” Seonghwa replied and put down San’s drawing on the table next to him. “Truth is, the headmistress sent me to keep an eye on San and report back to her. She doesn’t want you to look for Wooyoung and the teachers seem to be in on it as well. I don’t know why she’s doing this, but I don’t want to be a part of it.”

Mingi scoffed in disbelief, but Yunho gave Seonghwa an understanding smile before addressing the others. “I say let’s give him a chance,” he reasoned, “if he wanted to rat us out, he would've done so already. He knows that we’re using an unauthorized time turner, that’s enough to get us expelled in an instant – if not sent to Azkaban.”

San couldn’t argue with that. Jongho and Yeosang seemed to agree with Yunho as well. They looked at Mingi who still seemed irritated and unconvinced. San wasn’t sure if it was because he truly mistrusted Seonghwa or rather because everyone agreed with Yunho.

“Come on, Mingi,” Yunho said, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms over his chest, “this isn’t about you or me. If he wants to help, we should let him.”

Mingi threw up his hands defensively. “Well if you want to trust him blindly, be my guest – ”

“Seriously? We have bigger things to worry about than your pettiness!” Yunho retorted, making Mingi gasp in exasperation.

“What? My – ” 

“ _Anyway_ ,” Yunho interrupted once more, “we still can’t be one hundred percent sure if San’s dream even means anything.”

Mingi turned incredibly sulky for being interrupted multiple times in a row but didn’t say anything else.

“But how would a place I’ve never seen before appear in my dreams like that?” asked San.

A silence settled over them as they thought about it.

Yeosang’s face suddenly lit up. “Then why don’t we just see for ourselves?”

The others furrowed their brows at him, but Jongho smiled, catching on to what he meant. “He’s right. We literally have time on our side.” Their eyes met for a second before Yeosang looked away, smiling somewhat shyly.

San smirked, already pulling out the time turner. “You damn genius.”

The others excitedly rose from their seats and gathered around him, putting the long necklace around their necks.

Then they awkwardly turned to Seonghwa who stood a few steps away from them, unsure whether he should join them or not. He gave San an unsure look.

San sighed. “We might as well take him along.”

Mingi’s jaw dropped. “But bro, he might be a spy!”

Yeosang turned to him. “He knows what we’re doing anyway. We don’t have much to lose.”

San looked around, checking for any other objections before gesturing for Seonghwa to join them. Seonghwa smiled gratefully before stepping forward to put the necklace around his neck. Mingi didn’t seem happy about it but didn’t object.

Seonghwa looked around somewhat timidly. “Thanks, everyone…”

“Whatever. I’ll kill you if you rat us out,” Mingi huffed.

Seonghwa chuckled. “I’d like to see you try.”

After a little more discussion, the six of them decided on a time and place. San took a deep breath and held out the time turner. “Okay. Take us to the Ministry of Magic, Department of Mysteries, Office B. November 29th, 2016, 11:30PM.”

The couple of trips to the past San had taken to see Wooyoung at night had gotten him used to the strange feeling time travelling left in his stomach, but Seonghwa looked a bit disoriented for a few seconds. Yeosang was once again holding onto Jongho and Mingi still had his eyes shut tightly. Yunho was as unbothered as ever.

San looked around and realized that the room they found themselves in indeed looked somewhat like an office but almost all of the furniture had been removed.

He turned around, saw the bars of a cell that split the office in half and behind them was…

“Wooyoung!” Yeosang gasped and pointed at his unmoving figure on the ground.

San’s heart skipped several beats. He stumbled forward and fell to his knees by the bars to see if he was alright. Luckily, Wooyoung seemed to just be sleeping. San couldn’t spot any alarming injuries.

San tried to reach for him, but of course he couldn’t.

“So he really _is_ held captive in the Ministry of Magic…” Yunho mumbled in disbelief, shock evident in his voice.

“What the hell… how do we get him out of here?” Mingi asked, sounding just as scared and worried.

“Getting him out of here is not gonna be easy. The security is really tight in the Ministry. You can’t even go to the bathroom around here without filling out a form. But getting into the Department of Mysteries… that’s gonna be difficult,” Jongho pointed out.

“But it’s not impossible,” Seonghwa said after a pause.

Everyone turned to look at him.

“If we come in through the visitor’s entrance in London on a Sunday night, there should only be one or two security guards in the entrance hall. If we manage to get past them, the only thing left would be to take the lift down to Level Nine and find this office,” he explained.

Jongho gave him a surprised grin. “Damn, I didn’t know our model-student and token good boy Park Seonghwa had such a criminal mind.”

Seonghwa scratched the back of his head. “I wouldn’t call it _criminal_. More like organized and heroic.”

Yunho chuckled. “Sure. Planning to break into the most secure and confidential department of the entire Ministry of Magic isn’t _that_ criminal if you think about it,” he joked.

Seonghwa was about to retort something when the door behind them opened. San jumped to his feet - his first instinct was to attack or hide - but then he remembered that they couldn’t be seen anyway.

Some man dressed in black hooded robes came in with a plate and the smell of a freshly prepared steak filled the room. San figured he was some kind of guard. The man kicked against the cell bars, effectively waking Wooyoung. San felt his heart clench when the Gryffindor stood up, his usually soft brown hair all over the place and many small bruises covering his face and arms. He had gotten alarmingly skinny and his usually lively face looked exhausted and tired.

San felt his anger cook up inside of him. If it wasn’t for the stupid observe-only side effect of the time turner, he would just break that guard’s bones and demand that they let Wooyoung go if they want to live.

The guard crouched down to let the plate of steak slide into the cell. Wooyoung glanced down at it, then glared at him and kicked it back toward the guard. San didn’t like the fact that Wooyoung wasn’t eating anything but then he figured that he would probably do the same thing if he was in his position. The guard shrugged, took the plate with him and left.

Yeosang wore a pained expression as he watched his best friend fall into a chair near the back of his cell. “I can’t believe this…” he whispered and looked about as worried and angry as San felt. He had sunken to the ground in front of the bars.

Wooyoung’s stomach gave a grumble and he disappeared into what looked like a bathroom included in his cell.

“Just why are they keeping him here? What do they want from him?” Yeosang asked, sounding close to tears. Jongho made his way over to him and pulled him to his feet before putting an arm around him.

Before anyone could answer, the door opened once again. This time it was a middle-aged wizard who entered.

Wooyoung came back into the cell and his eyes widened as soon as he spotted the man. He stumbled towards the bars of his cell and desperately gripped onto them. _“Uncle Stephan?! How did you get in here? And what took you so long? I’ve been locked in here for days!”_

Guilt washed over San. Wooyoung truly had been in here for days, helpless and starving, while the school fed his friends some fat lies. San should have been faster. He should have come for his rescue as soon as he'd found out about his disappearance. Hell, he should have kept him from being captured in the first place. The desperation in Wooyoung’s eyes, his chapped lips, his pale skin… San's heart clenched up when he realized how little he could do for him right now.

“Right, Woo’s uncle Stephan. He did mention that he works in the ministry. But I didn’t know he worked in the Department of Mysteries,” Yeosang pointed out.

 _“Oh, Wooyoung. Lively and amusing as ever._ ”

Something about that smile Wooyoung’s uncle wore made San suspicious of him. He was way too calm for this situation and San didn’t like it.

The others seemed to feel the same way. “Something is off about him…” said Seonghwa.

“Yeah, he doesn’t seem like he’s here to help,” Jongho agreed.

And they were proven right only a few moments later.

 _“Oh I didn’t kidnap you. I just work for the people who did. I gave them the facilities they needed to keep you here,”_ Stephan revealed, causing Wooyoung to angrily grip onto the bars.

They all listened as Wooyoung’s uncle went into a crazy speech about some New Lord and how Wooyoung having some extraordinary Divination skills was apparently the key to everything.

 _“Fine, so let’s just say I really am some kind of Divination and Legilimency master. What does that have to do with anything?”_ Wooyoung asked through gritted teeth. He looked just about ready to fight Stephan and San shared that sentiment.

 _“That’s the important part. We need you for our cause. You’re going to use your talent to read a prophecy for us,”_ Stephan smiled. He seemed far too excited to explain everything about that prophecy business and it only fueled San’s anger even further.

Eventually, Wooyoung seemed to have enough of his uncle’s crazy talk and shook his head. _“You’re insane, Uncle Stephan. All of you are. I’m not helping you and your weird cult!”_

 _“You have no choice. As soon as the preparations are done, you’re going to read the prophecy and the Cleanse will begin,”_ Stephan shrugged.

_“Just you wait. My friends are going to find me sooner or later!”_

San managed a small smile at Wooyoung’s faith in them. They were late, but Wooyoung was still strong enough to believe that they were coming for him. He only wished that he would hold on to that thought long enough…

Stephan chuckled _. “Your friends think that you moved. They’re not going to look for you. We made sure of that.”_

Wooyoung turned around and Yeosang sobbed at those words, causing Jongho to pull him into his chest. San bit his lip in worry, hoping that Wooyoung would see through his uncle’s lies. He wished he could give him some sort of sign that they were working on his rescue as fast as they could.

 _“You’re gonna open your eyes soon. We’re going to change the world and you’re going to help us,”_ Stephan announced before leaving.

Wooyoung let himself sink to the ground and San knelt back down next to him on the other side of the bars. He watched as Wooyoung closed his eyes and grabbed the necklace he had given him. “ _San_ …” he whispered and San’s heart broke.

He was _right there_. And yet he couldn’t do anything to help him. San knew it was pointless, but he reached for Wooyoung’s hand anyway. He wanted to hold his hand, pull him closer, tell him that he was going to get him out of there… but his hand just went right through him.

Their time seemed to be up, and they were dragged back to the present. San was still kneeling on the floor when they found themselves back in the former Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Yeosang was quietly sobbing into his sleeve. None of them said anything, the shock rendering them speechless, and Mingi soon pulled his best friend into a hug.

It took all of San’s leftover strength to hold back his tears.

Jongho was the one to break the silence. “So… if we really have to break into the Ministry of Magic, we need a good strategy.”

The group nodded in agreement. Mingi let go of San as they all settled down on the floor. Jongho put an arm around Yeosang again, pulling him into his side in wordless consolation.

“We definitely need to prepare. If what Wooyoung’s uncle said is true, they’re probably not fucking around,” Yunho said.

“Is everyone on board with this? We’re all putting our lives on the line here, so if you don’t want to do that, nobody’s gonna blame you,” San reminded them.

“Yeah, if anyone wants to back out now would be a good chance to do it,” Yeosang agreed, wiping his tears with renewed determination. It didn’t surprise San that he was so ready to do anything to save his best friend without hesitation.

“No, I’m in. Let’s kick some _ass_ ,” Jongho said, resolve evident on his face.

“Bro, you know I’ll follow you wherever you go. And if it’s going to be Azkaban, then so be it,” Mingi pledged dramatically, patting San on the shoulder.

“I won’t be as dramatic as him, but Wooyoung is my friend, so of course I’ll help,” Yunho said.

Everyone looked at Seonghwa, who seemed to think about it for a second. “I mean, I did work for a perfectly clean and flawless record all my life, but… as long as it doesn’t interfere with my studies or prefect duties… I think it’s time to do the right thing. Count me in!”

San grinned when he saw his friends’ determined faces and felt his own resolve strengthen. Now that they knew where Wooyoung was and that he was still alive, the possibility of saving him finally felt real. San knew he would do anything to get Wooyoung out of that place as soon as possible, no matter how many laws he had to break.

“One more thing. Let’s say we come up with a plan to get in and out of the Department of Mysteries. How are we going to handle possible confrontation? We’ve only learned defensive spells so far, and even those were only in theory. What do we do if we have to fight back?” Yeosang asked.

San nodded thoughtfully. Offensive magic was not a part of the curriculum since there had been no real threats ever since the Battle of Hogwarts. They had gotten all of their knowledge on offensive spells from books, but they had never been taught how to actually use them.

“Hongjoong knows how to fight,” Yunho pointed out with a shrug.

“Yeah, he’s the leader of the dueling club and he’s top of our class,” Seonghwa agreed enthusiastically.

“I’m sure if _I_ ask him, he’ll _definitely_ say yes,” Yunho smirked.

“Oh, yeah, why don’t you bring your boyfriend along, why don’t we bring the lunch lady along as well and put up a notice in the entrance hall to ask everyone to join while we’re at it!” Mingi exclaimed sarcastically, glaring at Yunho.

Yunho rolled his eyes and scoffed. “Can you not act like a jealous child for once?”

“He doesn’t even know Wooyoung! We can’t just risk being found out!”

“Oh, come on! Hongjoong would never rat us out!”

San contemplated the suggestion, tuning out their bickering. It was risky to fill someone else in on what was happening. On the other hand, Hongjoong was a skilled wizard. Actually, he was the most skilled wizard they knew. Maybe it was worth the risk. They were running out of time and options at this point.

“I think it’s a good idea,” he decided eventually, interrupting them mid-argument and earning an exasperated groan from his best friend.

“Dude, you can’t seriously be considering this!” he protested.

“It’s too dangerous to head in there, confronting dark wizards with our limited combat skills!” Yeosang reasoned.

“What about _this guy_ ,” he nodded toward Seonghwa, “isn’t he a good wizard too? Why do we need someone else?”

“I’m decent at Defense Against the Dark Arts but Hongjoong knows offensive spells that go beyond the curriculum.”

“To hell with that, I don’t trust Hongjoong. He’s shady!” Mingi yelled.

Yeosang approached him and put a hand on his shoulder. “Calm down, you’re – ”

Mingi shook off his hand defensively. “Shut up, Yeosang! Your stupid peacemaker attitude is starting to piss me off!”

Jongho pushed him away from Yeosang, a fierce look in his usually kind eyes. “Don’t talk to him like that!”

“It’s okay, Jongho...” Yeosang mumbled, putting a hand on his arm.

Mingi gave San a dark look before huffing. “Fine, whatever,” he said, turning on his heel and storming out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

San felt bad watching him leave but the main thing on his mind was saving Wooyoung no matter what. He looked at the others who gave him unsure looks. “He just needs to cool off a bit,” he assured them.

“Are you sure? I mean, he seemed pretty upset,” Yeosang said in a worried tone.

“Yeah, he’s a little hot-headed sometimes but he’ll be fine in a few hours. I’ll talk to him later,” San replied. “For now, let’s focus on how we can convince Hongjoong to help us,” he said, looking at Yunho whose gaze was still fixed on the door.

“Around this time of day, he’s usually up at the Astronomy tower,” Seonghwa pointed out.

True to Seonghwa’s words, they found Hongjoong at the top of the Astronomy tower. San briefly wondered what he was doing here, looking at the sky at two in the afternoon but decided not to waste too much thought on that.

“Yunho, hey,” Hongjoong said, turning around and giving him a charming smile. Yunho greeted him with a hug and Hongjoong smoothly acknowledged the others with a nod. “What brings you here?”

“We kind of need your help,” San spoke up, taking a step towards him.

Hongjoong grinned and leaned against the railing behind him. “Do tell,” he said, casually crossing his arms over his chest.

They filled him in on the situation and Hongjoong heard them out with a thoughtful expression on his face.

“...that’s why we need you to teach us offensive magic,” Yunho said.

“Okay, I’ll do it. I’ll help you,” Hongjoong agreed without hesitation, confusing the rest of them.

“Really? Just like that?” San asked. He wouldn’t have expected Hongjoong to be so eager to help them.

“Sure, anything to help one of my closest friends,” Hongjoong grinned.

Yeosang frowned at his words. “Hold on, ‘ _closest friend_ ’? I didn’t know you two even knew each other,” he pointed out.

Hongjoong chuckled. “We’ve been close friends for more than a year. Ever since I asked him for a favor that I have yet to return.”

“If that was true, he would have told me!” Yeosang protested.

Hongjoong looked amused by Yeosang’s strong reaction and gave him a casual shrug. “Well, maybe Wooyoung isn’t as honest with you as you think.”

Yeosang scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest. “Wha- we’ve been friends for years! I’m very sure I know about everyone who’s ever been _close_ with him! And what kind of favor would you need Wooyoung for?”

“I’m afraid that’s a secret.”

“Wooyoung doesn’t keep secrets from me!”

“Listen, sugar, don’t get too worked up about this. Just because you’re best friends with him doesn’t mean he tells you everything. People hide things. That’s normal. I’m sure you two can work it out once we’ve brought him back.” Yeosang averted his eyes, still looking pissed. Hongjoong chuckled in amusement before addressing San again. “Anyway, I’m in, if you need me.”

Yunho threw an arm around him in a grateful manner. “I knew I could count on you, Joong!”

“Anything for you, handsome,” Hongjoong said, grinning up at him.

“I say we go right ahead with the preparations. We need to do research on which potions and spells could be helpful, we need to find out how to get to the ministry and how to break in and out of the Department of Mysteries. We also don’t know our way around in there...” San trailed off.

“I can help with that,” Seonghwa offered, causing San to nod in acknowledgement.

“Okay, Yeosang you’re good at potions, so you can take over the research for that. Jongho, you can help Hongjoong with the research for spells.” Jongho nodded before Hongjoong spoke up.

“I can also help with the potions, it’s my best subject after all.”

“Alright, you guys can just go to the library together,” San told them. Yeosang shot Hongjoong a glare but luckily didn’t put up a fight.

“You got it,” Hongjoong said, mock-saluting. 

**Wednesday, November 30th. 3:09PM. Hogwarts, Library. Kang Yeosang.**

“...I just think he’s sketchy. Like what kind of favor would he owe Wooyoung? How would they even know each other? I know every single one of his friends and he has _never_ mentioned Kim Hongjoong to me!” Yeosang ranted, frantically searching the large shelf in front of him for books that might help them with their research. He stood on the top step of a ladder, trying to reach the highest shelf, all the while complaining endlessly about Wooyoung’s apparent friend who had decided to use his special library pass to do his research in the restricted section.

The library was fairly busy, most of the students present being stressed fifth-years preparing for their O.W.L.s or the usual bunch of students who were here every day. The bright daylight coming in through the large windows illuminated the dusty study tables stationed at the end of every aisle.

Jongho, who was holding the ladder for him, chuckled, causing Yeosang to glare down at him for a moment.

“This is _not_ funny! I’m telling you, Hongjoong is hiding something and I’m going to find out what it is! Like, why does he even have a pass for the restricted area! He’s suspicious!”

“Being the best student in Hogwarts probably has its advantages,” Jongho shrugged. “Besides, you were so on board with the idea of having him join earlier. Now you just sound like Mingi...” It didn’t sound accusatory, but Yeosang couldn’t help but clench his jaw.

“That was before he mentioned the Wooyoung thing! I don’t even know why everyone likes him so much, he’s cocky and pretentious!”

“I don’t know, I think he’s pretty cool.”

“He called me _sugar_!”

“You’re pretty cute when you’re mad,” Jongho said, grinning up at him.

Yeosang almost fell off the ladder in surprise. He faced the shelf again to hide the blush that threatened to spread on his face. “A-anyway, I don’t think we should blindly trust him! What if he’s in on this whole thing? What if he’s somehow responsible for Wooyoung’s disappearance?”

“You don’t really believe that,” Jongho replied. It wasn’t even a question, more of a statement and Yeosang hated to admit that he was right. No matter how suspicious Hongjoong seemed, Yeosang didn’t actually believe that he had anything to do with the people who had hurt Wooyoung.

“I found something about advanced potions...” Yeosang said without bothering to deny or confirm Jongho’s statement. He reached for a thick, old-looking book and handed it down to him.

“Sweet, now get your ass down here, it’s distracting,” Jongho replied cheekily. Yeosang turned to glare at him again, which, however, caused him to lose his balance since he was still holding on to the ladder with only one hand. On instinct, braced himself for a rather ungraceful fall.

Only that he _didn’t_ fall.

Strong hands grabbed his hips, steadying him on the ladder. Yeosang’s heart raced at the scare of almost falling - and maybe also because Jongho’s hands were on him - and he bit his lip in embarrassment.

“When I said to get down, I didn’t mean it like that,” Jongho joked, waiting until Yeosang grabbed the shelf with both hands before releasing his grip on him. He descended from the ladder turning to face Jongho, hoping that his cheeks weren’t too flushed.

“Um, thanks...”

Jongho briefly brushed his arm, a small smile on his face. “Don’t mention it. You’re like the brains of this mission. Can’t have you cracking your skull open on day one.”

Yeosang chuckled. He would hardly call himself the _brains,_ but he appreciated that Jongho had prevented him from dying. “Let’s put that brain to use then, shall we?”

Jongho motioned for Yeosang to lead them to a free table. “After you, gorgeous,” he said. Yeosang playfully rolled his eyes at his not so subtle flirting techniques and walked over to the next best table.

They sat down next to each other before Yeosang opened the book. “Okay, let’s see...” he mumbled, skimming the old pages in hopes to find something that would come in handy for their rescue mission. “Well, this isn’t as advanced as I’d hoped, but a Confusing Concoction might be of use...” He muttered to himself rather than Jongho.

“Doesn’t the victim have to drink that?” Jongho spoke up.

Yeosang smiled faintly. “Not when I make it,” he replied, grinning.

“How ominous,” Jongho teased, nudging Yeosang’s shoulder with his own. “What else do we need?”

“Well, I don’t know how fierce our opponents are, but some Healing Potion can never hurt. I’d love to have some Felix Felicis on hand but that takes forever to make...”

“Do you actually know how to make that?” Jongho asked, sounding impressed. Yeosang only hummed affirmation as he continued to look for more potions.

“We might need some actual weapons instead of just healing potions, but I have little experience with those...” Yeosang took out a quill and some parchment, scribbling down some notes for Baneberry Potion, which was highly poisonous.

“Remind me to never get on your bad side,” Jongho commented.

“Don’t worry, you’d have to kidnap my best friend for me to throw this at you.”

He kept looking through the book but didn’t end up finding much more useful stuff. Nevertheless, he was glad to have a few things at least and he was itching to get started on preparing them right away. He finally felt like he was doing something useful to save Wooyoung. Four days had passed since Wooyoung had been kidnapped and Yeosang had done nothing but sit around and cry about it. Everything felt like such a waste of time. They needed to get him out of there before it was too late.

Jongho seemed to sense Yeosang’s restlessness and put a hand on top of his, making the Ravenclaw look at him. He thought back to their kiss. The memory was clear as day in his head, despite how drunk he’d been when it happened. He wondered why Jongho hadn’t mentioned it again.

Should _he_ mention it? After all, he was seeing Jongho in a completely new light. He had become hyperaware of the Gryffindor’s gentle and comforting touches and his protective nature; he had noticed him looking at Yeosang more frequently than he used to.

San had called Jongho a man of actions. _‘And his actions say that he’s interested in you.’_

Yeosang knew that he was interested in Jongho as well. He liked how safe he felt around him. He liked how careful Jongho was with him.

But did that really matter right now? Sure, he did want to know how Jongho felt about this new chemistry between them but then again, finding Wooyoung was the most important thing right now.

Yeosang felt guilty for letting his mind be occupied with his feelings when all he should be focusing on was contributing to Wooyoung’s rescue. His mind was all over the place and the sweet look in Jongho’s eyes made everything worse.

“What are you thinking about?” Jongho asked, his hand still on top of Yeosang’s.

Yeosang averted his gaze. “Nothing...” he lied.

Jongho didn’t seem like he believed him but was kind enough not to call him out on it. He retracted his hand and Yeosang was almost embarrassed by how much he immediately missed his touch.

“Here you guys are,” Hongjoong suddenly spoke up out of nowhere. He casually let himself fall into the seat across from Yeosang, slamming a huge book onto the table. Yeosang rolled his eyes at him but couldn’t hide his curiosity. “This book is full of potions that are useful and don’t take too long to make.”

“Well, I’ve gathered quite a few myself,” Yeosang told him coldly.

“Good, good. I actually found some that have only been developed a few years ago. They are not part of our curriculum, but they are a lot more useful for combat. Have you noticed that there are barely any potions that can be used for direct attacks? That’s why I’ve come up with a couple of recipes myself,” Hongjoong announced proudly.

Obviously, it wasn’t completely safe – or legal - to mess around with self-created potions as a student, but Hongjoong’s ideas were amazing. He told them about various throwable potions he had created; one that froze its victim in place, one that heavily confused its victim for a few seconds, one that tied its victim to the nearest object, and one that knocked its victim out for several minutes.

“Fine... I admit these would be quite helpful,” Yeosang said. “But we need tons of ingredients if we want to make all of those...”

“I’m sure San has a plan for that,” Hongjoong shrugged.

“Perhaps we should check in with the others? Since we can’t do much from here anyway,” Jongho suggested. Yeosang nodded and they rose from their seats.

Jongho took it upon himself to put the book back where Yeosang had found it, before the three of them headed back to the former Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom to regroup with the others. 

**Wednesday, November 30th. 04:47PM. Hogwarts, Former Defense Against the Dark Arts Classroom. Choi San.**

“I don’t think time travel is for me,” Seonghwa sighed, leaning on one of the desks to regain his balance and shake the dizziness. Even San had gotten a little woozy after traveling to the past four times in a row. After about an hour – in present-day time - they had started to get an idea of the layout of the Department of Mysteries. San had scribbled a rough floor plan on a big piece of parchment.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it eventually,” he chuckled and gave Seonghwa a pat on the shoulder before looking at their map. It showed the dark corridor San had seen in his vision, which was actually a hallway connecting the Rotating Room and the elevator leading to the other levels of the Ministry of Magic. The Rotating Room had about a dozen knobless, black doors that rotated as soon as anyone entered, making it impossible to know where any of them led.

So far, they had found a room with some huge glass tank of deep green liquid with some pearly-white brains drifting around in it, a dark room full of planets floating in mid-air, and a door that wouldn’t open no matter what they tried to charm it with. They hadn’t been able to try out all of the doors – especially since the rotating doors kept setting them back to square one – and there was no sign of that bright and sparkly room or Office B.

“We need to find that stupid office soon…” San muttered to himself. He kept seeing that picture of Wooyoung sitting in that cell, betrayed by his uncle and unsure whether his friends would ever come to his rescue.

Seonghwa gave him a sympathetic smile. “We will. The Department of Mysteries is very big, but I feel like we made a lot of progress today,” he pointed out.

San nodded and returned his smile. “I suppose you’re right. I just wish we could be faster…”

“We can go back one more time if you want to,” Seonghwa offered.

“No, it’s alright. You still look dizzy. Let’s take a break for today,” San chuckled and rolled up the map before putting it into his bag. Seonghwa didn’t say anything in return, but he seemed somewhat grateful that he didn’t have to go through that experience once again.

“I actually wanted to apologize,” Seonghwa admitted after the two of them had taken a seat across from each other at the desk in front of them. “You know, for being such a puppet and agreeing to spy on you guys at first. I was an idiot….”

“Don’t worry about it. You were just doing as you were told.”

“That’s exactly the problem. I wasn’t thinking for myself and I hate that I couldn’t see that sooner,” Seonghwa explained.

“It doesn’t matter now. What’s important is that you made your own decision. I’m actually glad to have you on the team. You’re a smart and talented wizard,” San reassured him. “And most importantly, if you hadn’t listened in on our conversation about that weird vision I had, we’d still have no idea where to look for Wooyoung. I had no idea that the rooms I’d seen were in the Ministry of Magic.”

Seonghwa smiled. “Thanks for seeing it that way.”

That’s when Jongho, Hongjoong, and Yeosang entered the classroom, joining them at the desk and filling them in on their research. For some reason Yeosang seemed to keep his distance from Hongjoong, who seemed rather amused by his antics.

All they needed to get started with the potion-making process was a long list of ingredients. To everyone’s surprise, it was Seonghwa’s idea to have one or two people steal them from Slughorn’s pantry when everyone else was at dinner. He even offered to be the one to do it, but San decided that he had done enough for today.

They then made their way to dinner while San decided to check up on Mingi. He found him fairly quickly; Mingi was in their dorm, curled up in his bed and sulking.

San promptly joined him, cuddling up to his much bigger best friend. Mingi didn't show and signs of protest and wordlessly put an arm around him.

San hated fighting with him, and even though it hadn’t been him Mingi had yelled at earlier, he still felt bad for not backing him up even a little. Of course saving Wooyoung was still his top priority, but he also couldn’t forget about his friends’ well-being, of course.

“I’m sorry,” he spoke up after a few minutes of silence. “I know you were trying to help, but we just walked all over your advice. I never meant to make you feel left out...”

Mingi looked at San with a faint smile. “It’s alright. You’re just trying to find Wooyoung. I get it. And… I guess Hongjoong is a pretty skilled wizard. He could be the key in saving Wooyoung. I’m sure you need him,” he said, shrugging with obviously false nonchalance.

“We need _you_ too,” San assured him. He didn’t want him to think that he wasn’t important to their mission because that was simply not true. Sure, Hongjoong was probably a smart addition to their team but without Mingi’s idea to use Yunho’s time turner, San probably still wouldn’t know where Wooyoung even was.

People often tended to deem Mingi stupid because of his laid-back and goofy charm. He liked to joke around and cause trouble around the castle from time to time, but he was a lot smarter than he let on. He was the most loyal and genuine guy San knew.

Mingi gave him an unsure look. “Is Yeosang still mad at me?”

San shook his head. “I don’t think so. You know how he is, as long as you don’t mess with Wooyoung he doesn't hold grudges. I’m sure he knows that you were just upset.” He paused, unsure how to carefully approach the elephant in the room. “I do think that you should talk to Yunho though...”

Mingi tensed for a moment before heaving a defeated sigh. “I’m not sure that’s such a good idea. You saw us earlier. Every conversation we have ends in a fight,” he mumbled the last bit, sounding regretful.

San patted his arm comfortingly. “Try talking to him in private.” he suggested. “I get that things are complicated between the two of you right now, but I feel like there’s still hope. I think he still likes you,” San assured him. He had seen the way Yunho’s eyes had followed Mingi when he had stormed off earlier. Yunho clearly wasn’t as over him as he claimed he was. 

Mingi scoffed. “Please, he never shuts up about _Hongjoong_ ,” he made a face when he spoke the Hufflepuff’s name, “it’s not like I stand a single chance anymore. Besides, even _if_ he wanted to talk to me, I never get a chance to be alone with him anyway.”

San grinned. “I have the perfect opportunity for you,” he said secretively. Mingi gave him a quizzical look, his interest seemingly piqued.

“We’ll have to make quite a few potions if we want to get out of the Ministry in one piece. Hongjoong and Yeosang will take care of that, but they obviously need a ton of ingredients. I figured that two of us could just steal some from Slughorn’s pantry. Why don’t you and Yunho do it? If... you’re still on board, that is,” he smirked.

“Of course I’m still on board, dude! I told you I’d follow you anywhere. A small disagreement is not going to change that,” Mingi said, sitting up straight, an excited grin on his face. “Consider the ingredients stolen!”

“That’s the spirit,” San said, returning his grin.

Mingi did look a little nervous, probably about Yunho being his partner in crime, but San could see that he still held the same determination in his eyes that he’d had in the beginning of this mission. He was glad that he could count on his best friend no matter what.

“Thanks for helping me out, man,” San answered, before side hugging Mingi. “I have to head out again. I’ve got...something to do,” he told the other Slytherin before rising from the bed, absent-mindedly reaching into his pocket for the time turner. Mingi looked like he knew what he was up to but didn’t comment on it - which San was grateful for.

He left the dorm room, went down into the common room, and stopped in his tracks as soon as he’d reached the foot of the stairs. His eyes fell on the time turner in his hand. Seeing Wooyoung one more time before heading to dinner wouldn’t hurt, right? San looked around for any possible witnesses, but the common room was deserted.

“Take me to the Library. June 26th, 2016, 4:30PM,” he whispered to the golden device in his hand and before he knew it, he found himself near the entrance of the library, watching his past self turn round the corner.

San remembered that he had been on his way to the library to finish his final paper for Potions that day. He watched as Past-San hurried down the hallway. He was about to turn right to enter the library when he bumped into Wooyoung and knocked him over in the process. The books Wooyoung had been holding scattered all over the floor and the librarian shot them a glare.

 _“Fuck, sorry!”_ Past-San said and immediately held out a hand to Wooyoung. He took it and let Past-San pull him back to his feet.

Wooyoung smiled and dusted off his robes. “Don’t worry about it,” he replied and was about to pick up his books, but Past-San was quicker. He handed him the stack of books with his signature smirk.

_“Thanks… San, right?”_

_“Yeah,”_ Past-San nodded and pointed at him, _“Wooyoung from Charms and Muggle Studies?”_

 _“That’s me,”_ Wooyoung responded with a chuckle.

San felt his chest tighten. No matter how many times he travelled back in time to see him, Wooyoung’s smile and laughter reminded him of just how much he missed him. How much he needed him by his side.

There was a short pause as Past-San and Wooyoung smiled at each other. The sudden chemistry between them was so intense it was almost visible. A bunch of students passed by them, laughing and chatting, oblivious to the bond forming between the two students.

 _“I can’t believe we never talk to each other,”_ Wooyoung admitted cheekily.

Past-San’s smirk widened as he looked him up and down. _“Yeah. Wow. I can’t believe I never hit you up.”_

Wooyoung scoffed, though he seemed intrigued. _“You’re bold.”_

 _“You’re cute,”_ San replied smoothly.

_“Fuck you.”_

_“You wish.”_

_“At least buy me dinner first,”_ Wooyoung joked.

Past-San smirked. _“It’s a date. Meet you at the Three Broomsticks this Friday at six.”_

Wooyoung scoffed once more. Attraction was written across his face as he considered Past-San with a smirk. _“Fine,”_ he agreed.

Past-San showed a proud grin and took one of Wooyoung’s hands before pressing a small kiss to his knuckles, all the while holding their eye contact.

Wooyoung’s cheeks reddened in surprise. He watched as Past-San moved past him and entered the library. Wooyoung looked after him, shook his head and smiled before walking into the other direction.

Once again, San wanted to stay longer but he was pulled back to the present against his will.

It had been his shortest trip so far – probably because he and Seonghwa had already used the time turner so many times today - but it caused him twice as much heartache. He let the time turner slide back into his pocket and climbed through the portrait hole to join the others at dinner.

**Wednesday, November 30th. 07:26PM. Hogwarts, Dungeons. Jeong Yunho.**

Yunho had been anything but thrilled about being assigned to steal potion ingredients from Slughorn’s pantry with Mingi. He was certain that he could fare very well by himself – or with literally anyone else. They had met up in the Entrance Hall and made sure that Slughorn was in his office before heading down into the dungeons.

“So…” Mingi trailed off awkwardly as the two of them snuck through the dungeons while everyone else ate dinner in the Great Hall. Yunho mentally prepared himself for yet another one of Mingi’s snide remarks about Hongjoong or whatever had dared to piss him off this time. The two of them had just reached their destination when Mingi spoke up again. “You never really mentioned how exactly you got that time turner,” he pointed out. Yunho eyed him suspiciously, taken aback by the lack of the usual hostility in his voice. Why would he want to know about that all of a sudden?

“Well, you never asked…” Yunho replied. Mingi shrugged and pulled out his wand to open the locked door leading to Slughorn’s pantry.

“You don’t have to tell me… I was just curious,” Mingi told him as he opened the door and stepped aside to let Yunho enter first. The latter hesitated before stepping inside with a slightly confused expression. He wasn’t used to these displays of chivalry from Mingi.

They had to scoot closer together in order to not knock anything off the cramped shelves surrounding them in the extremely narrow room. The shelves reached all the way up to the high ceiling and were stocked to the brim with glasses and bottles of all sizes, filled with strange contents. Some of those contents Yunho recognized from Potions class, others he had never seen – or wanted to see – before. He figured that they were the cause of the unpleasant stench that lingered in the air.

“Do you have the list of ingredients?” Mingi questioned as soon as the door had closed behind them. Yunho nodded and reached into his pocket to pull it out and hand it to him.

A silence followed in which the two of them focused on the task at hand. They sorted through the partly illegibly tagged glasses on the many shelves, slowly working themselves down their respective lists. Yunho found himself glancing at Mingi from time to time, just to eventually meet his eyes, look away, and awkwardly clear his throat.

Gosh, why did everything they did have to result in either an argument or awkward silence? He suddenly felt the need to break the uncomfortable tension between them and decided to engage in Mingi's attempt at having a normal conversation for once.

Yunho sighed and spoke up. “I got it from my gran.”

“Huh?” Mingi asked, letting a slim glass of ground-up Dittany glide into his bag.

“The time turner. I got it from my gran, so to speak…” Yunho clarified, causing Mingi to turn around in interest. “My family has always been obsessed with history, my gran more than anyone. When I was little, she would tell me stories about historical events and she’d always make them sound like she had witnessed them all herself. When I got older, I realized that she really had. I asked her how, but she just patted my head and told me that it was a secret. When she passed, I sorted through her things in the attic and found the time turner. I started to read up on them and found out that the one gran owned was a really old model, one that hadn’t been manufactured in the ministry.”

Mingi gasped in realization. “That’s why its functions are limited!”

Yunho nodded. “Exactly. Usually people can change the past with time turners, which would make this whole mission both easier and more dangerous.”

“Do… your parents know that you took it?”

Yunho chuckled. “Please, they would murder me. The usage of time turners has been forbidden since the Second Wizarding War. Even if this one can’t interfere with the past, the ministry would send me straight to Azkaban.”

There was a pause as Mingi looked away and gnawed on his lip in guilt. “Sorry that I told San about it when I did…”

“It’s alright. You did it for Wooyoung. I probably would’ve done the same if I were you,” Yunho said and gave him a small smile.

Mingi returned his smile before focusing back on his list. He read the next ingredient on his list and looked up, letting his eyes search through the shelves. When he didn’t find it on his side of the small room, he scanned the shelf behind Yunho. Suddenly he stopped, squinted a little and then stepped closer to Yunho, who had to step back in an instinct so that his back hit the shelf. The Slytherin grinned at him for a moment and reached up to grab the glass of octopus powder from the shelf just behind Yunho’s head. He eyed his list to check if it was the correct formula and put it into his bag. “There it is,” he said triumphantly.

Yunho prayed that his face didn’t flush at their proximity. The Slytherin hadn’t moved away one bit and was now wordlessly looking right into his eyes. This was the first time they had been this close in months – without a considerable amount of alcohol in their systems, that is.

Yunho had almost forgotten how much he had missed the feeling of not having to think about anything else when he was with Mingi. How warm his dark brown eyes looked, how his brown curls compliment his tan skin, and how you only could see the tiny freckle on his left cheek when you stood close enough to him.

Yunho’s heart raced when Mingi’s eyes fell to his lips and he couldn’t help but feel excited. But at the same time he hated himself for being so weak. How had they even gotten into this situation? Yunho was supposed to be mad at him. He was supposed to hate him. He had broken his heart, after all. Mingi had been clear enough about rejecting him, so why was he standing here, his face only inches away from Yunho’s and slowly moving closer? Why did Yunho even let him do whatever he wanted after all the things he had put him through? After playing with him and giving him false hope over and over?

Yunho pushed him away before their lips could meet and ran a hand through his hair.

Mingi gave him a confused look that only sparked Yunho’s irritation. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

 _What’s wrong?_ Anger boiled up inside of Yunho, overruling the stupid butterflies Mingi had caused in him only a few moments ago. Did Mingi think of him as easy just because he had confessed to him last year? Did he think it was funny that Yunho was stupid enough to still feel the same way about him?

“Just what is your damn problem?” Yunho snapped. “You reject me, you pick fights with me and then all of a sudden you try to kiss me! Is this some kind of joke? Is this what I am to you?”

“You never complained before!” Mingi said defensively. His expression had turned confused and angry.

“Because I’m an idiot! I just keep falling for you and your stupid games every time! Why can’t you just let me get over you?” Yunho outright yelled now. He didn’t care if anyone caught them now. He was too hurt and angry to care.

Mingi scoffed, bringing some distance between them by leaning against the shelf on the opposite side of the small room. “You seem pretty over me, considering that you’re fooling around with Kim Hongjoong!”

Yunho threw up his hands in exasperation. “There we go again. Just admit that you’re jealous and go!”

“Jealous? Me? Don’t be fucking ridiculous!”

“No, _you_ can’t stand seeing me with Hongjoong, so you get all passive-aggressive about it! Why don’t you just try speaking your mind for once in your life! Confront your damn feelings!” Yunho spat.

Mingi crossed his arms over his chest. “Oh, right, so you want me to just ask you out while you’re hanging off your _boy toy of the week_?”

“My _what_?”

“You heard me! You’re the one whoring yourself out, so am I really the one not confronting my feelings?”

Yunho’s jaw dropped. “Did you just call me a whore?”

“Damn right I did! Do you want me to spell it out for you?” Mingi challenged angrily.

“You sad jealous virgin!”

Mingi seemed taken aback for a moment. “H-Hey, I’m not a virgin!”

“Yeah, _right_. You’re intimidated by my experience, so your next best move is to shame me, very nice. But in case you forgot, Song Mingi, _I_ was honest about my feelings for you and _you’re_ the one who didn’t want me! Now that I’m out here living my best life I sure as hell won’t let you call me names!” Yunho slung his bag full of ingredients over his shoulder and turned to leave, but Mingi quickly moved between him and the door, blocking his way.

“What, are you going to run to Hongjoong now?” he asked, glaring.

Yunho scoffed. “And what if I am? At least Hongjoong isn’t an insecure little bitch who’s too scared to face his own feelings!”

“Shut up!”

“Make me!”

And with that, Mingi pulled him closer by the tie and kissed him. Their anger seemed to fuel their kiss, making it hot, messy and eager.

A part of Yunho wanted this kiss, wanted to let go and forget everything else, but another part knew that it was wrong. He shouldn’t be returning his kiss. He shouldn’t be liking him. He shouldn’t even be here with him.

The latter part took over and Yunho pulled away.

“You don’t deserve me right now…” he mumbled and pushed Mingi aside, leaving the small pantry. He hoped that the Slytherin wouldn’t follow him and leaned against the wall in the hallway around the corner.

Luckily, nobody was around, since dinner probably hadn’t ended yet. Tears started to form in his eyes, but he took a deep breath and fought them back. He wasn’t going to cry over that guy anymore.

He heard a thump from the direction he had come from. Mingi had probably kicked against the door in anger.

After Yunho had calmed down a little, he decided to return to the Hufflepuff Common Room and sleep early. He would just bring the ingredients to San tomorrow. He reached the familiar common room entrance and tapped the correct barrel in the rhythm of _Helga Hufflepuff_ and entered the common room.

Only a few students were hanging out and chatting on the cozy yellow couches stationed in the center of the round and low-ceilinged room. Yunho spotted Hongjoong, who smiled and crossed the room to approach him. His smile faltered a little when he saw Yunho up close.

“Hey handsome, what’s wrong?” he asked, motioning for Yunho to take a seat on one of the couches.

Yunho shrugged and looked away. “Nothing.”

“Mingi?” Hongjoong asked knowingly.

Yunho shook his head in disbelief but couldn’t hold back a faint smile. Sometimes he could swear Hongjoong was able to read minds. “How did you know?”

Hongjoong laughed. “Listen, I don’t need to read your mind to recognize your _I-had-a-fight-with-Mingi_ face.”

“Whatever,” Yunho said dismissively.

Hongjoong put an arm around his shoulders. “Fine, you don’t have to tell me,” he said, grinning up at him. “Do you need a distraction?”

Yunho looked at him, considering his suggestion and Hongjoong only rose an eyebrow. Yunho eventually grinned back at him. “Yeah. I think a distraction wouldn’t be so bad.”

**Wednesday, November 30th. 10:49PM. Ministry of Magic, Department of Mysteries, Office B. Jung Wooyoung.**

Wooyoung had lost track of how many days he had spent in his little prison. He had no way of knowing what time it was when he woke up and even though he had started to accept the food they brought him every day, his body still felt exhausted and weak. Too weak to actually come up and pull through with any kind of escape plan anyway.

He looked around and made sure that he was alone in the room before getting up to stretch his aching limbs. Sleeping on a hard office floor for multiple nights in a row was starting to take its toll on him. He went to the bathroom to wash his face and came back into the cell to engage in his favorite activity – sitting around and doing nothing for hours at a time.

His thoughts got darker and darker the longer he was left alone with them.

Had Stephan been telling the truth? Had his friends really fallen for the school’s lie that Wooyoung had moved away? There was no way they would believe that, right? Surely, they would see right through that and look for him… right? Wooyoung sighed anxiously and reached for San’s necklace. He was starting to feel like that was the only thing that kept him sane in here. What if he’d never see him again?

 _No_ , Wooyoung thought. _Don’t even think that._

He tried to focus on something else and realized that there were voices coming from beyond the office door. He hastily got to his feet, alerted by the fact that there were more than one or two people this time.

“I remember telling you not to tell him too much, Stephan,” said a voice Wooyoung hadn’t heard before. It didn’t seem to come from any of the guards who had brought him food so far. His voice was laced with a faint Russian accent and he spoke in a weirdly melodic tone.

“I know… I apologize. I just thought that he might be more cooperative if a person he trusts told him why he was here,” Stephan replied somewhat reverently. Wooyoung pulled a face when he heard his voice. He still couldn’t quite believe that his own uncle had been one of the people who kidnapped him.

“It doesn’t matter what he knows, Vas. He’s not going to make it out of here alive anyway,” a voice – one that Wooyoung swore he had heard before a lot - said coldly.

Wooyoung swallowed. He had already expected them to kill him as soon as they got what they wanted, but hearing it spelled out like that sent a shiver down his spine.

“I’m more concerned about the fact that you’re treating the boy like this is some kind of vacation,” the cold-sounding voice continued. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but it sounded so familiar. “He needs to know that he’s under our control and doesn’t have a choice but to cooperate.”

“I suppose you’re right, David,” Stephan said, “but if I just talk some sense into him, he will join our cause. His power is going to get stronger every day. Imagine how powerful it would be to have a born Legilimens on our side. Just think about it, Vas!”

The guy with the Russian accent chuckled. “I do appreciate your enthusiasm, Stephan. I will consider it,” he said. “But it does not matter for now. Nadia said that the complications have still not been resolved and that they will not be able to take care of it until Sunday.”

“Sunday?” the cold voice asked. “What’s taking them so long?”

“I do not know,” the Russian guy replied casually, “and I think I told you to be patient, Dave. We will just keep him here until everything is ready.”

That’s when the door clicked open and three wizards entered, followed by a guard Wooyoung hadn’t seen before. He seemed to have been stationed outside the door.

“There he is, Vas,” the guy with the cold voice spoke, gesturing toward Wooyoung, whose jaw dropped when he finally realized where he knew that familiar voice from. He had no idea how he hadn’t recognized him sooner.

The man standing between Stephan and the Russian guy was David Donovan, Wooyoung’s Divination teacher.

“Professor Donovan…?” Wooyoung breathed out in disbelief. “You’re in on this too?”

But Donovan didn’t even spare him a glance. His eyes were directed at the man next to him, who seemed to be their cult leader or something. The New Lord.

“So, this is the boy who’s going to pave my way to greatness,” the man who Wooyoung assumed to be their leader said with a cunning smile.

He was tall and pale, had dark brown hair and gray eyes. He had a much calmer attitude than Donovan, but there was still something so cold about his aura. He regarded Wooyoung with an interested look, stepping a little closer to the bars. His striking gray eyes made Wooyoung feel uncomfortable; there was so much vigor in them, so much determination. It was different from Stephan’s crazy enthusiasm. This guy knew what he wanted, and he was ready to get it at all cost.

“How about you _pave my way_ out of here?” Wooyoung snapped, trying not to shrink away from the coldness the man held in his eyes. Wooyoung was angry and disgusted with these people, and he was not afraid to show it, despite the fear he felt upon meeting the infamous _New Lord_.

“Your uncle did say that you were a delight. It is nice to finally meet you Wooyoung.”

“Wish I could say the same,” Wooyoung retorted with a growl. “Who even are you?”

“Ah, yes. How rude of me not to introduce myself. My name is Vassily Politovsky. Vas, for short.”

“Oh no, I don’t _actually_ care. It’s just that I’m surrounded by your weird cult people and I would much rather return to Hogwarts, so if you could just let me go, that would be great,” Wooyoung told him, sarcasm and disdain dripping from his voice.

Professor Donovan took a step forward, a hard expression on his face that he was so different from his usual friendly demeanor that Wooyoung was used to from Divination class. _Vas_ put a calm hand on his bicep holding him back.

“I am afraid that you will have to stay with us for a little while longer, Wooyoung. I know your uncle has already…” he paused, throwing a glance at Stephan who looked at his shoes subserviently, “filled you in on the goals of our cause.”

“Yes, and you’d be a damn fool to think I’d help you willingly,” Wooyoung spat.

The New Lord laughed in amusement, although Wooyoung didn’t miss the cruel undertone in his voice. This man would hurt him if he didn’t get what he wanted but Wooyoung would not cower in front of him like his pathetic uncle did.

“We are going to get along just marvelously,” the New Lord told him, clapping his hands once, still with that unnerving tone of cruel amusement.

“Forgive me for not believing that,” Wooyoung grumbled.

“Watch it, kid,” Professor Donovan threatened, a dangerous glint in his eyes. Wooyoung only glared back at him. He still couldn’t believe that his professor would work for some evil mastermind. Could he not trust anyone these days? First his uncle, now his teacher... who would show up down here next?

“As much as I would like to stay and chat with you some more, Wooyoung, I have some important business to attend to. We will talk again soon, though, I promise,” Vas told him in his melodic tone. Wooyoung wanted to tell him to shut it but he refrained. Donovan already looked like he was ready to snap his neck if he said one more wrong thing.

The New Lord smiled at Wooyoung in a way that would almost be charming if he wasn’t a crazy kidnapper cult leader guy. “Thank you for your help. It is much appreciated,” he said.

“I think you missed the part where I said that I wasn’t gonna help you!”

“Maybe you should stop acting up before I make you regret it. You’re replaceable and I will _not_ hesitate to kill you if you don’t prove to be useful,” Donovan threatened him. This time the New Lord didn’t stop him when he stepped closer to the bars.

Wooyoung instinctively took a step back, wanting to get as much space between himself and Professor Donovan. Somehow these iron bars didn’t feel like enough of a barrier.

“Alright, I think he got it!” Stephan complained.

Donovan whipped his head around to glare at him. “Are you telling me what to do, Jung?” he hissed.

“We didn’t wait for him to turn seventeen only to kill him a few days later! He’s powerful, you know that! Killing him would not aid our cause at all!”

“Enough of this. Back to work, my friends. We must make all the necessary arrangements to get everything ready for Sunday,” the New Lord interfered before Dave could answer Stephan. Or kill him. Both options seemed possible with this guy.

Donovan shot one last vicious glare at Wooyoung before the three men left the room. Wooyoung released the breath he didn’t realize he was holding. He was scared shitless now that there had been an actual threat to his life. Stephan wouldn’t always be around to step up for him. He seemed to be lower in the hierarchy anyway, so there was no guarantee that Donovan wouldn’t take his anger out on him first.

Wooyoung sat down on the floor and leaned against the wall. He tried his best to keep it together, but his situation seemed to get more and more hopeless as the hours passed by. Would San come for him? Had he even received the dream message Wooyoung had tried to send him?

Wooyoung’s Legilimency skills were still very new to him and he didn’t have much of a clue how to use them. He didn’t know enough about it and obviously there was nobody around who could teach him.

It wouldn’t hurt to try again. There wasn’t much else for him to do.

Wooyoung sat up straight, closed his eyes and decided to try again. The odd feeling of coldness took over him as he tried to imagine his own spirit reaching out to San’s. It felt like a part of his soul momentarily left his own body and became one with San’s, as if it mentally latched onto him. The fact that he was able to do such a thing was still weird and scary to Wooyoung. He didn’t enjoy the feeling of invading someone else’s mind and spirit on purpose and couldn’t help but wonder whether it was uncomfortable for San – if he even felt his presence, that is. But he was running out of time and options.

Judging by how active San’s mind felt, he seemed to be awake, which made things a little harder. Still, Wooyoung gathered all the things he remembered from being brought here in his mind and tried to project the images and details onto San, tried to show them to him. The dark corridor, the bright room outside the office, and the cell he was in. _Help me. Please,_ Wooyoung thought desperately.

He let his spirit return to his own body and immediately felt the cold sensation disappear.

His mind felt weak and his head hurt. There was no way for him to know if he had succeeded. He didn’t understand his powers yet.

He didn’t feel all that powerful, locked up in a make-shift cell with no certain way to call for help.


	6. Thursday, December 1st

**Thursday, December 1st. 01:21AM. Hogwarts, Library. Kang Yeosang.**

Yeosang hurried through the long and dark corridor on the second floor, careful not to wake any of the portraits with the light coming from his wand. His steps were fast but quiet and he soon rounded the corner at the end of the corridor.

The air felt cold against his skin and he pulled his long cardigan tighter around his body as he entered the dark library.

He’d woken up after only about an hour of restless sleep and felt the need to do something, anything, that would help with Wooyoung’s rescue. He’d figured that if he wasn’t going to catch any sleep, he might as well do something useful. He’d grabbed his wand, thrown on a jacket and snuck out of the Ravenclaw Common Room, not even completely sure what he was going to be looking for. The library was just the first place his feet had carried him to.

He soon found out that the library was a lot scarier at night. It was of course completely empty and silent, the only sound coming from Yeosang’s shoes as he strolled through the seemingly endless narrow rows. His hand tightened its grip around his wand, the only source of light he had.

He was just about to head to the potions section to see if he had missed any sort of advanced potions book yesterday when he suddenly heard a noise.

Yeosang stopped in his tracks. His heart skipped a beat and his body tensed up instinctively.

It had sounded like a couple of books falling to the ground a couple aisles behind him, but there was nothing to be seen or heard when Yeosang looked behind himself.

Yeosang hadn’t even come close to touching any of the books yet, so obviously it couldn’t have been his own fault either.

Was there someone else in the library? A teacher maybe? Yeosang had never been here at night before. He should’ve expected some teacher to be making sure that students didn’t try to break into the restricted section or something. Had they seen him when he’d walked right past those shelves?

Slowly starting to panic at the thought that he might’ve gotten himself into huge trouble, Yeosang decided to hide in between two bookshelves that seemed to be a part of the Arithmancy section, judging by the amount of books on the basics of numerology and mathematical approaches to divination. He then whispered, “ _Nox_ ,” to his wand, causing the light that had come from the very tip of it to die out. He even held his breath as he stared into the complete darkness surrounding him.

He held his breath and anxiously stood there for a few seconds until he heard a pair of footsteps coming in his direction.

 _Damnit_ , he thought. What was he going to say if he got caught? The footsteps were only a few meters away now. Should he just surrender? Yeosang bit his lip. Should he just play dumb and pretend he had a habit of sleepwalking?

In a moment of indecisiveness and panic, Yeosang raised his wand and was about to fire a spell at the source of those footsteps, but stopped himself last second when he saw who they were coming from.

“J-Jongho?” Yeosang asked in a whisper.

The Gryffindor put up his hands as if to surrender. He held his lit wand in one of them and an old-looking book in the other. “It’s just me,” he said, grinning at Yeosang’s shocked expression.

Yeosang sighed in relief and clutched his heart. “For Merlin’s sake, Jongho! I almost cursed you! I thought you were a teacher or something!”

Jongho raised his eyebrows. “You would curse a teacher?” he asked, pointing at Yeosang’s wand that was now spouting out a couple of tiny blue sparks. Yeosang quickly put it away.

“I panicked alright! What are you doing here in the middle of the night anyway?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” Jongho chuckled. “I couldn’t stop thinking about what Wooyoung’s crazy uncle said. You know, all that stuff about Legilimency. I wanted to find out more about it.”

He handed Yeosang the shabby book. _The Art of Legilimency: How to Invade and Interpret the Layers of the Mind_ , the cover read in golden letters.

“What’s your excuse?” Jongho asked.

Yeosang looked away and shrugged, suddenly feeling embarrassed about how he had come here without any good plan of what to look for. “I don’t know, I couldn’t sleep…” he mumbled. “I guess I kind of just came here automatically.”

Jongho gave a sympathetic smile and put an arm around his shoulder, already leading him to one of the study corners. “Then why don’t we just check this one out together?”

Yeosang didn’t have a better idea, so the two of them soon found themselves skimming through the introductory pages of _The Art of Legilimency_ together.

“ _Legilimency is the act of magically navigating through the many layers of a person’s mind and correctly interpreting his findings. A person who practices this art is known as a Legilimens. The opposite of Legilimency is Occlumency, which is used to shield one’s mind from the invasion and influence of a Legilimens_ _._ _It is safe to assume that the art of Legilimency has been around for a fairly long time, as Salazar Slytherin, a very skilled Legilimens, lived in the 11th century, and, along with the other Hogwarts founders, enchanted the Sorting Hat to have the skill_ ,” Jongho read in a whisper.

“That’s pretty much what Stephan already told Wooyoung. Let’s see if this says anything about people who are like Wooyoung,” Yeosang suggested.

He skipped a few pages ahead. His eyes flew over many lengthy explanations about the history of Legilimency, until he found something that piqued his interest.

“Oh, listen to this,” he told Jongho and read out the passage, “ _Queenie Goldstein was a talented Legilimens who would frequently read those around her and verbally respond to those thoughts. She did so without malicious intent but was often scolded for looking into others' minds without their permission. Whereas most had to learn Legilimency, Goldstein was born with a great aptitude for the skill. Voldemort also, used Legilimency extensively, both wandlessly and nonverbally, to enter the minds of those he wished to interrogate. It was even said that it was "the dark lord's pleasure to invade the mind". He created visions that would drive them to madness_. _While he could perform Legilimency nonverbally and wandlessly, less talented practitioners must use the incantation ‘Legilimens’ to enter their victim's mind. If a target is not skilled in Occlumency, a Legilimens will be able to detect if the person is lying, as well as delve into their thoughts, emotions, and memories. Highly skilled Legilimens can also influence a mind that they invade._ _Like Occlumency, Legilimency is not regularly taught at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Because it invades peoples' privacy, Legilimency is a legally restricted magical practice, just as the use of Veritaserum is strictly regulated by the Ministry of Magic. Goldstein, who would use Legilimency on those around her and respond to their thoughts verbally, was constantly scolded for this invasion of privacy, but was never prosecuted._ ”

“Wow,” Jongho commented, “I get why Wooyoung’s crazy uncle was so excited over his power. If Wooyoung really has the power to do all of that wordlessly and wandlessly… that’s very impressive.” He had an excited look on his face as though he wanted to try to learn Legilimency himself. 

“You sound like get all of that,” Yeosang chuckled. Personally, he had dropped Divination after his third year because he sucked at it, but Jongho seemed pretty enthusiastic about it.

“Well, some of it. I’ve always been interested in Divination-related things. Predicting the future and the idea of destiny and all that stuff. That’s why I read so much about it,” Jongho admitted.

“You believe in destiny?”

“I like to believe that everything happens for a reason,” Jongho shrugged. “Because if it does, doesn’t that give life so much more meaning?”

Yeosang didn’t respond at first as he considered those words, but Jongho seemed to take that as doubt.

“It’s okay, you can laugh at me now.”

Yeosang laughed and slapped his arm. “No, I think I get what you mean. I just never thought you were the kind of guy who’d think that way.”

“Really?” Jongho chuckled. “What kind of guy am I, then?” 

“Um, you’re, well…” Yeosang felt his face heat up as he fumbled around with his own fingers, “you’re always so… casual and carefree. I didn’t think you’d be thinking about deep stuff in your free time.”

Jongho smiled. “I guess there’s more to me than you think.”

“In that case I want to know more about you.”

Yeosang had no idea why he said that.

Jongho widened in surprise for a split second before the smile returned to his lips.

Jesus Christ, how had Yeosang gotten himself into this mess? Staring at Jongho’s face in the library in the middle of the night was definitely not what he’d come here for. But it was so easy to get distracted by the warm gaze Jongho always regarded him with. It was so easy to look at his cute small nose and his full cheeks and his soft lips…

Before Yeosang realized what he was doing, he’d already leaned in and kissed him. Jongho immediately returned his kiss as if he’d been waiting for it. He gently removed a strand of Yeosang’s hair from his face before cupping his cheek with that same hand.

Yeosang eased into the kiss, enjoying the feeling of Jongho’s soft lips against his and his warm hands on his cheek and his lower back. He wasn’t sure what to do with his own hands and eventually just let them find their way around Jongho’s neck.

The kiss lasted longer than Yeosang had planned – even if he technically hadn’t _planned_ to kiss Jongho at all – but eventually he pulled away, unable to open his eyes for a moment afterwards.

Words couldn't quite describe how Yeosang felt when he kissed Jongho. It was a heat-of-the-moment thing, but it felt good and it felt right.

At the same time, there was always this feeling of guilt in the back of his mind somewhere. His best friend was trapped in the Ministry of Magic. Kidnapped. In lethal danger. This wasn’t the right time to develop a crush on anyone. It was too complicated, too… inappropriate. And yet, Yeosang couldn’t help it. His higher reasoning crumbled whenever he and Jongho were alone and Yeosang was powerless against it.

“What were we talking about?” Jongho asked after a few moments of silence. His calm smile had returned. He had no idea what was going on in Yeosang’s mind or what kind of mess he’d caused in it.

“Destiny.”

“Right.”

Another moment of silence.

“I always thought that maybe Wooyoung and I were always destined to be best friends,” Yeosang chuckled, “I mean, we’ve literally been through everything together. We learned how to _walk_ together.”

Jongho gave him a surprised look. “You two met before Hogwarts? I didn’t know that.”

“Yeah. We’ve known each other since birth. Our dads went to Hogwarts together and have been friends and neighbors ever since.”

“That really does sound like destiny.”

Yeosang nodded. “Wooyoung always protected me as a kid. He was always ready to throw fists at whoever threatened to steal my cookies or harm me in any way,” Yeosang had to chuckle at the memory, “At first I thought he was just another annoying and overly talkative boy next door, but eventually I realized that he just wanted to be friends with me. We’ve been inseparable ever since.”

Jongho remained silent as he listened to Yeosang reminisce about his childhood with Wooyoung and only interrupted him to ask for details every once in a while.

“And then one day… he even saved my life. I promised myself that I would always protect him, just like he protected me when we were kids…” Yeosang said, his smile faltering as the feeling of guilt rose in his chest once more. What a great job he was doing at protecting Wooyoung.

He looked down to his hands, his eyes burning with tears forming in them. He felt pathetic just sitting there, fighting back his tears like a little boy.

Jongho took his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze, causing Yeosang to look at him. “I’ll make sure that you’ll be able to keep that promise.”

Yeosang managed a small smile when Jongho ran a hand through his hair.

They stayed there in silence for a while longer, but soon decided to return to their respective common rooms after Jongho almost fell asleep on Yeosang’s shoulder.

“Thanks for walking me back,” Yeosang said as they came to a halt in front of the entrance to the Ravenclaw Common Room.

Jongho smiled cheekily. “Anytime. You think you can solve the riddle by yourself this time?” he teased.

“I think I can handle it, Sherlock,” Yeosang replied, suppressing a yawn. He looked down at his hand that Jongho was still holding.

Jongho grinned and Yeosang would be a liar if he said his smile didn’t make his heart melt at least a little bit.

He pressed a short kiss to the corner of Jongho’s mouth, just barely missing his lips before letting go of his hand and sending him away to his own common room. Luckily, Yeosang was finally tired enough to fall asleep as soon as he’d changed into his sleepwear and gotten into bed. He fell into such a deep sleep that he didn’t even dream.

The next day, after morning classes, Yeosang met Hongjoong in the empty potions classroom down in the dungeons. Hongjoong smirked at him when he entered the room, but Yeosang only rolled his eyes and focused on setting up his cauldron and all the necessary ingredients.

Yeosang was anything but happy about being Hongjoong’s potions partner for their mission. He still didn’t trust him one bit and his naturally cocky attitude didn’t really help his case.

On one hand, Yeosang had been looking forward to getting started on the list of complicated healing potions and throwables, but Hongjoong somehow infuriated him even if he remained silent for the most part. Yeosang couldn’t stop wondering about that favor from Wooyoung that Hongjoong had mentioned, and something told him that Hongjoong knew how much it bothered him. He probably even found it amusing.

Unfortunately, Yeosang couldn’t deny that Hongjoong had skills. Having him on their team was a necessity if they wanted to get Wooyoung back and he acknowledged that fact. But it didn’t keep him from throwing suspicious glances at Hongjoong who was sitting across from him, measuring some Castor Oil for one of his own potion recipes. Yeosang wasn’t sure whether he ignored his glares or if he was simply oblivious.

He got his answer when Hongjoong eventually broke the silence that had lingered over them ever since they had gotten started on their tasks. “Something to say to me, sugar?” he grinned.

Yeosang averted his gaze and let his freshly chopped snake fangs roll out of his hand and into the cauldron in front of him.

Hongjoong chuckled and persisted. “Come on. Just say it. We’re supposed to be a team.”

“We can be a team without talking. I don’t trust you.”

“Is it because Wooyoung and I are close and you didn’t know about it?”

Yeosang shot him a glare. “Woo would _never_ keep something like that from me…” he could hear his uncertainty in his own voice, despite his attempt to sound vigorous.

Hongjoong smirked. “You’ve never kept anything from him?”

“ _No!_ ” Yeosang said defensively, “not even that time I had a crush on his ex-boyfriend or when that bastard Corbin tried to force me to - !” he interrupted himself and closed his eyes in embarrassment.

Hongjoong raised his eyebrows and Yeosang mentally slapped himself. The plan was to not talk to Hongjoong at all and instead he’d almost told him about the most private thing that had ever happened to him. He already expected Hongjoong to make fun of him, but the Hufflepuff only regarded him knowingly.

“You’re so protective over him. Something important must have happened between the two of you that makes you feel indebted to him,” he observed.

“I-I just care about him is all!” Yeosang said defensively. He didn’t ask for a therapy session and Hongjoong’s know-it-all grin was starting to get on his nerves.

Hongjoong chuckled and began stirring around in his steaming cauldron. “What does your boyfriend think about that?”

“My what? I don’t have a – ”

“Jongho, I mean. Doesn’t he get jealous when you spend all of your emotions on your best friend?”

“What? He knows Wooyoung and I are just best friends and Jongho’s _not_ my boyfriend!”

“But you like him.”

“T-That’s none of your business!”

“Whatever you say, sugar. Just don’t burn yourself while you play with fire.”

Yeosang felt like an open book and he really didn’t like it. Who was this Hongjoong guy to just analyze his social life like that? And why did Yeosang always end up telling him things that he didn’t actually want him to know? He suddenly understood why some people believed that Hongjoong could read minds.

“Alright, listen. You don’t even know me! You may have popularity and top grades but that doesn’t give you the right to be intrusive like that!” Yeosang snapped at him.

Hongjoong’s smirk dropped. “But I know people just like you. Everyone’s the same after all. People don’t change.”

“What are you even – ” Yeosang started, but stopped himself mid-sentence. “Actually, whatever. I’m continuing my work over there. If you need anything, don’t ask me.”

And with that, Yeosang grabbed his cauldron and the ingredients to finish his potion on the other side of the room. Hongjoong looked like he wanted to say something but a glare from Yeosang's side shut him up for the rest of their working session.

**Thursday, December 1st. 02:38PM. Hogwarts, Quidditch Pitch. Song Mingi.**

Mingi wished he could have been paired with anyone else on this mission to steal some of the school broomsticks that would take them to the ministry. It didn’t take a genius to realize that Yunho was keeping his distance from him.

Mingi knew that San was only trying to be a wingman by sending Yunho on the same missions as him, but it just didn’t work out the way Mingi wanted it to.

Jongho was with them as well but he mostly just tried to awkwardly converse with the two of them to ease the tension. It didn’t work. Yunho was deliberately keeping his eyes off Mingi, only talking to Jongho and _only_ when he was spoken to first.

Mingi was walking behind them, his shoulders slumped. He already had so many things to regret about his past with Yunho already and yesterday’s events just added to the pile of things he had fucked up. Why did he have to go into panic mode back when Yunho had confessed to him? They could be happy and in love right now if it hadn’t been for Past-Mingi’s idiocy. Instead, Yunho hated him now and he was with _Hongjoong_.

Mingi couldn’t help but wonder just how serious the two of them actually were. Hongjoong didn’t seem like the type of guy who had serious relationships. But if they weren’t serious, why had Yunho freaked out on him yesterday? Did he stop Mingi from kissing him because of Hongjoong? But then what had he meant by Mingi not letting him get over him.

 _You don’t deserve me right now,_ Yunho’s voice repeated in Mingi’s head. What was that even supposed to mean?

Mingi sighed in frustration, earning himself a questioning look from Jongho which he ignored. Yunho still didn’t grace him with so much as a glance.

His feelings grew bitter when he remembered the things Yunho had said to him during their fight. Why did he have to keep making comments about Mingi being a virgin? Was that really such a bad thing? Did Yunho think he was superior only because he’d done it god knows how many times with half the school?

Mingi’s eyes widened slightly when his thoughts went further. Had he done it with _Hongjoong_ too? His jaw tightened at the thought. He mentally cursed Yunho for even confessing to him in the first place. If he hadn’t, they could at least still be friends right now. Maybe Mingi could have just quietly liked him from the sidelines without complications.

“Mingi?”

He snapped out of his thoughts at the sound of Jongho’s voice. He hadn’t even realized that they had already arrived at the locker rooms beneath the stands. It was where Quidditch professors always locked away the brooms before and after the first year students’ flying lessons.

Mingi looked up just in time to see Yunho rolling his eyes. He clenched his fists and was about to snap at him but Jongho already spoke up again. “Wait here and stand guard while Yunho and I go inside,” he instructed.

“Why do I have to stay out in the cold?” Mingi complained.

“Don’t be a baby,” Yunho said.

“It’s not going to take long. We’ll be in and out in a brim,” Jongho reassured, already making his way inside. Yunho followed, leaving Mingi behind by himself. He crossed his arms over his chest and grumbled angrily. He shifted from one foot to another and covered his stinging cheeks with his Slytherin scarf, trying to shake off the cold.

Jongho had lied when he said that they would be in and out in a brim.

Mingi waited and waited as the minutes passed by. After what felt like ten minutes, he was so lost in his grumpy thoughts about Yunho and Hongjoong that he almost didn’t notice Professor Robinson approaching the locker rooms.

“Mr. Song?” she asked, obviously surprised to see him here. “Shouldn’t you be at lunch?” She checked her wristwatch, confirming that it was indeed lunch hour.

Mingi tried not to panic. If Jongho and Yunho came back now they would get into so much trouble. He had to come up with an excuse. Quick. “Yes, um, well...” he stammered. “The reason I’m not at lunch is, um,” he looked around, “I wanted to practice a little for the, uh, the game.”

Mingi started to do stretching exercises and Professor Robinson furrowed her brows. “What game? The semi-finals take place in March. There’s no game scheduled for now,” she pointed out with an unsure chuckle.

“Right, I know... I, um, wanted to be prepared,” he lied, leaning to the side to stretch his leg.

“I admire your spirit, Mr. Song, but I’m afraid you need a permit to practice out here by yourself,” she told him, looking a little apologetic even.

Mingi laughed nervously. “Aha, I knew I forgot something.”

“Why don’t you head to lunch now? You must be hungry. I don’t advise skipping your meals in favor of practice,” she said, giving him a friendly smile before trying to make her way into the locker rooms.

Shit. Time to improvise.

Mingi pretended to stumble, effectively regaining Professor Robinson’s attention.

“Oh my gosh, are you okay?” she asked, immediately reaching out to steady him.

He pressed a hand to his temple and stumbled sideward. “Yes... I’m just so dizzy,” he lied, pretending to be unable to stand properly.

“Oh no, let’s get you to the hospital wing right away.”

Mingi nodded with an expression of false agony and let Professor Robinson escort him back to the castle. When they were halfway up the hill, he turned around to see Jongho and Yunho sneaking out of the locker rooms trying to keep the five broomsticks in a large sack as they ran to another entrance of the castle. He sighed in relief and stood up straight again.

“Professor, I already feel a lot better. Maybe I should just get some food into my system. I haven't eaten all day,” he told Professor Robinson with a chuckle.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, thank you, professor!”

“Alright then... but please go to the hospital wing straight away if you feel dizzy again,” she instructed, earning herself a nod from Mingi. She threw one last wary glance at him before taking off back to the locker rooms.

Mingi returned to the castle by himself, a proud grin on his face. He made his way into the Great Hall to actually grab something to eat before he had to meet up with the others for their first ever practice of offensive magic.

**Thursday, December 1st. 03:53PM. Hogwarts, Former Defense Against the Dark Arts Classroom. Choi San.**

Hongjoong made them work in pairs of two to practice some easy combat spells. He claimed that he needed to see what they were capable of in order to help them improve, but they quickly got tired of disarming each other with _Expelliarmus_ and temporarily stunning each other with _Stupefy_ over and over.

“Come on, can’t you show us something new, Hongjoong?” whined Jongho, who seemed to have the least amount of problems casting the spells – along with San. The two of them excelled at both Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts and had teamed up to practice on each other.

Yunho smoothly flicked his wand to repel Mingi’s Disarming Charm and effectively caused him to lose his own wand. “Yeah, even Mingi has almost figured it out,” he sneered.

Mingi gave a dissatisfied grumble as he picked up his wand. He glared at Yunho and got back into combat position before saying, “ _Rictusempra_!”

“ _Prote_ \- ” Yunho attempted to block Mingi’s spell, but this time he was too slow. The silver jet of light hit him right in the chest and he immediately burst into uncontrollable laughter. He fell to his knees, wheezing and holding his stomach.

Now Mingi was the one to chuckle in satisfaction as he watched Yunho’s weakened figure roll around on the wooden floor until Hongjoong cast a counter spell. San turned away from the scene, trying not to chuckle, and noticed that Jongho also had some trouble hiding his snickering. Seonghwa rolled his eyes at them and picked up the wand he had just charmed out of Yeosang’s hand before handing it to him.

Hongjoong helped Yunho - whose ears had now turned red in embarrassment - get off the ground. “If you want me to teach you guys anything, I need all of you,” he gestured towards Mingi, San, Jongho and Yunho, “to stop playing around and take this seriously. We’re supposed to be a team.” Hongjoong’s tone was unusually strict and it was hard not to feel guilty for getting carried away.

“I’m sorry, Joong,” Yunho said, now glaring at Mingi, “I didn’t know he was going to play unfair.”

Mingi scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest. “Unfair? Did you forget all about how I saved your ass from Robinson earlier?”

“I mean you didn’t have to – ”

“ _Guys_!” said Yeosang finally. “Hongjoong is right. Can you not do this for once? Please?”

Mingi and Yunho exchanged glares and fell silent.

“Thanks, sugar,” Hongjoong said and ignored Yeosang’s complaints about the nickname. “Now, I’m glad to see that you guys can at least manage the basics. _Expelliarmus_ , _Stupefy_ and _Protego_ are essential for any battle, no matter how easy and irrelevant they may seem to you right now. But our enemies know that too. We can’t be too predictable when fighting,” he explained. “That’s why you need to know how to cast your spells nonverbally sometimes. Whoever we’re fighting will have less time to prepare for what’s coming and that might save one of our lives, especially if we end up being outnumbered.”

San returned the nervous glance Mingi gave him. They hadn’t started practicing nonverbal spells in class yet, but San had always been interested in trying it out. Hongjoong was right, being able to curse their enemies wordlessly could give them a crucial advantage once they had to face those people who had kidnapped Wooyoung.

“Isn’t that hard though?” Mingi asked, an uneasy expression on his face.

“In the beginning, yes. But you’ll get used to it,” replied Hongjoong. When Mingi didn’t seem reassured in the slightest, he added, “How about I just show you?”

Hongjoong chose Seonghwa to be his partner for this exercise and told him to cast any spell at him. Since Seonghwa was a seventh year as well, he already knew how to cast nonverbal spells, but Hongjoong told him to use the incantation for now. He seemed to think about which spell to use for a moment before giving Hongjoong a nod and raising his wand at him.

The Hufflepuff followed his example and smirked, ready to counter whatever Seonghwa was going to curse him with. “It works just like casting a spell usually does. Except you don’t say the incantation out loud. You think it.”

Seonghwa stared at him for a few more seconds before saying, “ _Stupefy!_ ”

Red light shot toward Hongjoong, but he smoothly blocked it with a flick of his wrist and without a word.

“Impressive,” Yunho commented, flashing Hongjoong a smile and putting an arm around him.

Hongjoong smirked and leaned into his side. “Thanks, handsome. Who wants to try next?”

He looked around. San and Jongho had raised their hands to volunteer and grinned at each other.

“Love the enthusiasm,” Hongjoong said with a chuckle, “From what I’ve seen earlier you two seem to be pretty good at Defense Against the Dark Arts. So, how about you try to disarm each other? Without saying the incantation out loud, of course.”

“Easy,” San said confidently, already raising his wand at Jongho who smirked challengingly in return.

“Wanna bet? Loser has to buy the winner a butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks.”

“Deal.”

Jongho raised his wand and waited for Hongjoong to give them a signal. The others formed a circle around them to watch.

Hongjoong grinned and told San and Jongho to get ready before counting to three. “One.”

San’s hand closed tighter around his wand as his eyes focused on the wand in Jongho’s hand. He just had to disarm him like earlier. No big deal.

“Two.”

Just think the incantation and it will work just like casting a spell usually does. Just think it.

“Three.”

 _Expelliarmus,_ San thought and silently flicked his wand. Nothing happened. It was a lot more difficult than San had anticipated.

Jongho seemed to face the same struggle. His eyebrows were furrowed and repeatedly flung his wand. San wondered how ridiculous they looked as he heard Yeosang chuckle at them.

Eventually, as San repeated the incantation in his head, Jongho’s wand began to shake in his hand. He was about to celebrate his victory when he felt his own wand start to slip out of his grip. He hastily tried to catch it with his other hand, but it was too late. Jongho had disarmed him first.

The others started clapping and Jongho grinned victoriously as San accepted his defeat.

“Very good for your first try,” Hongjoong said to Jongho. “Seems like you won yourself a butterbeer.”

San and Jongho exchanged grins as they returned to their positions. Though San was a little sulky that he hadn’t won, it only motivated him to get better at nonverbal spells.

Hongjoong told everyone to practice on each other and San and Jongho did fairly well compared to some of the others. Yunho managed to disarm Mingi a bunch of times, but only because he mouthed the incantation; Yeosang got a few laughs out of Seonghwa for trying so hard to disarm him that he held his breath until his face turned red, and Mingi only managed to produce a bunch of sparks in the color of the spell he attempted to cast, which frustrated him greatly. It didn’t help that Yunho kept chuckling at his misery.

“Do everything the way you usually would. Clear your head and focus on his wand,” Hongjoong advised. “Forget about who it is you’re trying to disarm. Only focus on the fact that you want to see that wand flying.”

“I’m _trying_ ,” Mingi said through gritted teeth. His jealousy grudge against Hongjoong only seemed to make things worse. It took him another thirty minutes to disarm Yunho, which ended up lifting his spirits at least a little.

San felt bad for him but appreciated his determination to pull through with it despite everything. Mingi was a strong wizard. It just took him a while to learn new spells, maybe because he’d grown up in a non-wizard family and was thrown into the magic world without a warning. But once he got the hang of whatever spell he was learning, his spells were more powerful than even San’s, and he couldn’t help but admire his best friend for that.

When they started to get a tired from shocking and knocking each other backwards over and over, they decided to take a little break and sat down in a circle on the floor. Seonghwa had brought a bunch of sandwiches for them to recharge their energy with, which was honestly kind of sweet of him.

San sat between Yunho and Yeosang, absent-mindedly eating his sandwich as he stared off into space. His mind had been occupied with Wooyoung all morning after what had happened last night. No matter how much San tried to focus on Yeosang’s story about how Teddie Lupin’s girlfriend had been spotted cheating on him with his best friend Kyle, he couldn’t stop thinking about that voice he had heard yesterday evening.

There was no doubt about it. He was one hundred percent sure that the voice had belonged to Wooyoung.

He was overwhelmed by feelings of worry for him. The fact that Wooyoung had been able to call for help meant that he was at least still alive, but if they didn’t take action soon, San didn’t know for how much longer that was going to be the case.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

San perked up, ripped out of his thoughts by Mingi’s voice. “O-oh, nothing, I just…”

He hesitated, contemplating whether he should tell the others or not. All of the others had stopped talking, looking at him with concerned expressions. Unable to resist his friends’ worried faces, he decided to give in.

“I… think Wooyoung reached out to me again last night.”

“What?” Yeosang exclaimed, sitting up properly with widened. “Really?”

“Yeah. I was in my dorms, trying in vain to fall asleep, and suddenly I started to feel sleepy again,” San explained.

“What did he show you this time? Any new clues?” asked Hongjoong.

San shook his head. “No… but I heard his voice this time,” he said and gulped. “He said to please help him.”

His stomach turned as soon as the words left his mouth.

“He sounded so desperate, so… scared…”

A heavy pause followed as the others digested those words, unsure what to say. Yeosang looked a bit teary eyed, and Yunho gave San a side hug.

“It’s okay,” Yunho told him after a while. “We’ll save him before it’s too late.”

“Yeah,” Seonghwa chimed in, showing a reassuring smile. “At least we know that he’s still alive.”

San averted his eyes. He didn’t want to hear that.

They didn’t understand. They hadn’t heard Wooyoung. They hadn’t heard the despair in his voice.

_“Help me. Please…”_

San closed his eyes and clenched his fists.

“Come on, guys. Let’s keep practicing…” Jongho spoke up eventually, standing up.

“You’re right,” Yeosang agreed and let Jongho pull him to his feet as well.

The others followed their example.

They practiced for another hour before Hongjoong said that he had to attend to some prefect duties and disappeared first. As a result, Yunho claimed that he wanted to use his free period to write his essay for History of Magic, Mingi decided to head back to the common room to practice some more, and Jongho left for Quidditch practice, closely followed by Yeosang who’d decided to watch him play. San and Seonghwa stayed behind and continued to work on their floor plan of the Department of Mysteries.

They still weren’t completely sure how to get from the Rotating Room to Office B where Wooyoung was held captive, but they had figured out where most of those doors led. There was only one door left to explore and San felt anticipation well up inside of him.

“Last door. This must be it,” he said and gave Seonghwa one last smile before pushing the knobless door open. The room was so bright, San could barely see anything at first. Once his eyes had adjusted to the brightness however, he recognized the beautifully sparkling light that illuminated the entire long, corridor-like room. There were hundreds of different types of clocks to be seen on every surface, hanging in spaces between the bookcases or standing on desks ranging the length of the room. A busy, relentless ticking filled the room like thousands of minuscule, marching footsteps.

“It’s looks exactly the way it did in my vision! Let’s go find Office B,” San said excitedly. He had already walked past a bunch of grandfather’s clocks when he realized that Seonghwa wasn’t following him. He stopped in his tracks and turned around to him. “Seonghwa?”

Seonghwa hadn’t set a foot into the room. He was still standing in the door frame, his eyes wide and his complexion paler than ever.

“What are you doing? We need to hurry. Our time will probably be up soon!” San reminded him, but Seonghwa didn’t move an inch.

San was already on his way to drag him inside when the ticking sounds slowed down and came to a halt. Next thing San knew, they were back in the former Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and Seonghwa stumbled backwards, almost falling over a chair before sitting down on it.

He still looked completely and utterly shocked, and the fact that travelling through time took a way bigger toll on him than on San probably didn’t make things better. He had his hands pressed to his temples and was shaking all over.

San had no idea why he was so shaken up all of a sudden or how to calm him down, so he sat down on the table next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. Seonghwa flinched at his touch. “What’s wrong? Did I miss something back there?”

Seonghwa didn’t answer. He was staring right ahead, perturbed and vulnerable, as he wrapped his arms around himself protectively.

San couldn’t believe his eyes as he observed the usually calm and collected prefect in front of him clench his trembling hands and turning away from him.

“Talk to me, Seonghwa. Are you okay? Should I take you to the hospital wing?” he asked.

Seonghwa shook his head no. It took him a few seconds to speak. “That was… the Time Room,” he said slowly and swallowed hard. His voice sounded weak and shaky.

“You mean you’ve been there before?”

“I- yeah…”

San only watched him in confusion as Seonghwa swallowed. Once again, it took him a couple of seconds to elaborate.

“My dad worked there until the accident. I… don’t know all the details,” Seonghwa stammered, still shaking a little, “All I know is that he was supposed to do some research work with super time turners or something. You know, the ones that let you go back decades, if not centuries. And one day… something went wrong with him while he was traveling, and… he didn’t make it back.”

San was speechless for a solid minute. “I… I’m so sorry…”

Seonghwa just shook his head and looked down at his hands. “I was twelve when it happened. He used to take me to that Time Room to show me things. Of course it wasn’t allowed, and my mother was always against it, but he did it anyway. Especially during the summers he took me there a lot because mother was busy taking care of her headmistress business anyway.”

His eyes widened when he realized what he’d said, and San gave him a surprised look. “Headmistress Park is your mom?!”

How had he not realized that sooner? Not only did they share a last name, Seonghwa had the same intelligent brown eyes and tall lean figure. He had the same annoying way of strictly following rules. He’d shown so much trust in her when they’d first told him about Wooyoung. He’d really believed that she would do the right thing, that she would protect her students. Now that San knew, it made a lot of sense.

“…Yes,” Seonghwa admitted, “but please don’t tell the others! Not yet, at least… They still don’t entirely trust me, and I don’t want them to think I’m a spy or something.”

“It’s okay, I won’t tell them,” San promised, and he could practically see the relief on Seonghwa’s face. “But… why is it a secret in the first place?”

“I didn’t want anyone to treat me differently just because I’m the headmistress’ son,” he admitted. “I’ve always been closer to my father than my mother, but after father died, I only had her left to lean on. She wants me to work in the ministry one day and I used to share that goal but lately… I’m not so sure anymore. All this time I did whatever she wanted me to do. I was so proud of being able to follow rules, a model student… but I don’t think any of that was ever enough for her.”

San wasn’t sure what to reply, so he remained silent and just listened. It seemed like it was Seonghwa’s first time telling anyone this and San felt bad for him in a way. He’d poked a lot of fun of him with Mingi, Changbin, Yeonjun and the others. He’d labeled him as an arrogant prefect guy – which he still was in a sense – but San hadn’t just how much Seonghwa kept to himself all the time.

“I mean, what’s the point of being able to follow rules properly if it only causes other people to suffer?” Seonghwa continued, absent-mindedly staring at his own hands. “I wasted so much time following my mother’s every word without question. I left every decision up to her and it makes me feel like such an idiot.”

“You’re not an idiot. No, you’re actually smarter than you think for realizing all of that and still choosing to do the right thing in the end,” San replied.

Seonghwa smiled weakly. “Thanks for seeing it that way.”

“It’s never too late to stand up to your mom, you know,” San said, nudging Seonghwa’s shoulder, “And I think I might actually have an idea about that.”

San didn’t want to make Seonghwa return to the Time Room again today, so they ended their research session and parted ways.

San made his way down the Great Stairs and pushed through the large entrance door to step out into the cold air. It had become remarkably colder over the past few days and San was glad that he’d remembered to bring his scarf.

Thick snowflakes flew through the air, covering the fields and the magical village ahead in an even thicker layer of snow. San hugged his robes tighter around his body as he got further and further away from the castle.

It didn’t take him long to reach Hogsmeade and he hurried past all the sweets shops and souvenir stores until he finally reached the Three Broomsticks.

Jongho was already there when he entered the warm and welcoming inn. San acknowledged him with a grin before heading to the counter to order their drinks.

“Thanks, man,” said Jongho, still beaming about his victory as San handed him his tall glass of butterbeer before taking a seat across from him with his own.

The Three Broomsticks was full of people – most of them students – happily chatting and laughing. It was like this most of the time – crowded and warm, the faint smell of smoke and old wood lingering in the air, but always clean and cozy.

San’s pride was still a little hurt from losing against him in their nonverbal duel, but he wasn’t sulky about it anymore. He’d gotten the hang of it during the rest of the lesson after all and he was confident that he’d be able to drop incantations completely in a few weeks. Right now, he was glad to be catching a short break from everything. His thoughts weren’t consumed by endless worry for once and he actually enjoyed himself just chatting and joking around with Jongho.

“I don’t think I ever thanked you for helping me find him,” San realized after a while, Jongho just waved it off as he downed half of his butterbeer in one go. “You’re an amazing wizard. Our team definitely wouldn’t be as strong as it is without your skills.”

“Of course I’m helping you find him. I need my roommate back. And I want to protect him better in the future,” Jongho replied. “If only I had been in my room when those guys came to get him, maybe I would’ve been able to prevent it, you know?”

San nodded. He did know. “I feel the same way. I should’ve just stayed with him that night when he asked me to.”

Jongho gave him a sympathetic smile and they fell into a short silence. Deep down, San knew that probably neither he nor Jongho would have been able to do anything against those hooded wizards. Even if they’d decided to not attack Wooyoung while anyone was with him, they would’ve just come back another time. And deep down he knew that it wasn’t his fault, but that didn’t stop the guilt from stabbing at him every once in a while.

Luckily, Jongho decided to change the subject. “I don’t think Wooyoung has ever liked anyone as much as he likes you,” he said with a chuckle, “I witnessed his two past relationships a little bit, but they were nothing more than little flings compared to what you two have now. He literally never shuts up about you.”

“Really now?” San smirked, his chest swelling with pride. He wasn’t completely oblivious, of course. He knew that Wooyoung shared his attraction, but he still loved hearing about the effects he had on him.

“Obviously dude,” Jongho replied with a chuckle, “He talks about you so much that I feel like I’m watching a rom-com on Netflix.”

San furrowed his brows. “What’s a _Netflix_?”

Jongho laughed and waved off. “It’s a muggle thing.”

San nodded slowly and took another sip of his butterbeer. “Anyway, yes, Wooyoung is… special. I’ve met a lot of guys, but not one of them can even begin to compare to him. I don’t even remember what I was thinking about all day before I started talking to him. He was so lively and easy to talk to right from the beginning. We just… clicked. It’s one of the things I love most about him, other than his smile of course. He’s comfortable, warm, lovely, and cute…” San absent-mindedly played with the glass in front of him. “Like I said. He’s special.”

Jongho only gave him a knowing look and smiled.

“But enough about Wooyoung and I. What about you and _Yeosang_?” San asked, wiggling his brows at him.

“What about him?” Jongho said evasively and looked away as his cheeks grew slightly pink. He took a long sip of his butterbeer.

San rolled his eyes playfully. “Oh, come on. Don't pretend you guys aren't constantly undressing each other with your eyes. I can tell you like each other.”

Jongho hesitated before speaking. “I do like him... a lot actually. I was so surprised when he suddenly kissed me that night of the party. I only thought of him as a friend before that, you know? I didn't realize...” a smile spread across his lips as he looked for the right words, "how cute he is. How beautiful he is. But after I'd returned to my dorm, half-drunk, I couldn't stop thinking about him.”

“How did that even happen? I mean, why were you two even together that night? Yeosang was really vague about it.”

“He talked to you about me?” Jongho asked with wide eyes.

“Yup.”

“What… what did he say about me?”

“Business secret,” San smirked.

Jongho scowled, but answered the question nonetheless. “Well, we were dancing together after the drinking game at the party and suddenly Yeosang said that he was starting to feel dizzy. I asked him if he wanted to get some fresh air, so we went outside together. We were sitting on one of those benches in the hallway, just drunk chatting and stuff, and eventually he fell asleep.”

“Just like that?”

“Just like that. I tried to wake him, but he just clung onto me. What was I gonna do? I couldn’t just leave him there. So, I decided to carry him to his common room, he’s really light after all. I answered the knocker’s question, entered his common room, and asked one of the Ravenclaw students downstairs to point me to his dorm. And then, when I put him down on his bed was about to leave, he wrapped his arms around my neck and kissed me without a warning,” he explained as the blush returned to his cheeks. “Obviously I didn’t wanna take advantage of him and left. I figured that he only did it because he was pretty drunk but… then he kissed me again in the library last night.”

San almost knocked over his butterbeer in surprise when he heard that last part. “You and Yeosang had a late-night date at the library?”

Jongho chuckled and sheepishly scratched the back of his head. “It wasn’t like that. We met there by chance.”

San grinned and leaned back in his chair. “Oh, man. I can’t wait for you two to hit it off. I never considered this pairing but now that it’s happening, I totally see it.”

Jongho just smiled to himself, finished his butterbeer and didn’t reply. San felt himself smile as well. He was always happy to see his friends fall in love with each other.

“Get him, tiger,” San teased and the two of them continued to chat for a while longer before heading back to the castle.

When San entered the Slytherin dorms, he was greeted by Changbin, who was the only one there. He snickered and told San something about a prank he and Yeonjun were planning to play on some second years later as San took off his coat and scarf. Changbin asked him to join, but he waved off.

Now that he was no longer distracted by Jongho, the need to see Wooyoung had resurfaced.

“I’m too tired,” he lied, “I still have to finish that essay about Sleeping Solutions that Slughorn told us to write.”

Changbin shrugged. “Bummer. I already finished mine yesterday, wanna copy? Lee Chan said it was a masterpiece,” he grinned deviously.

“Thanks, man. But not now,” San replied with a chuckle and let himself fall backwards on his bed. “Where’s Mingi?”

“Not sure. He mumbled something about having to practice before he left. No idea what he needs to practice.”

San nodded and continued to chat with Changbin until he excused himself to meet up with Yeonjun, leaving San alone in the room.

After only a moment of hesitation, he drew the curtains around his bed and got the time turner out of the chest pocket of his robes. He regarded it for a while, wondering which memory he should travel back to.

There were so many moments he’d shared with Wooyoung that he wanted to relive. He wanted to see him happy again, hear his voice and his laugh. He wanted to escape this reality again, even if it was only for a short period of time. Who knew when he’d be able to make new memories with him? How else was he going to see him smile? How else was he supposed to deal with the sword of guilt pointing at his throat?

And besides, what harm would it do? He couldn’t just sit there and wait for his own imagination to drive him insane. He just couldn’t.

San took a deep breath and whispered, “Take me to the Owlery. September 2nd, 2016, 6:20 PM.”

**Thursday, December 1st. 08:11PM. Hogwarts, Dungeons, Potions Classroom. Choi Jongho.**

No matter what Yeosang did, he seemed unable to sit still today. He kept saying that he could practically feel time slipping through his fingers and every time he sat down to take a break from worrying about Wooyoung for a minute, he got right back up and started to look for something else to do to help with Wooyoung’s rescue.

That’s how Jongho had ended up in the Potions classroom with Yeosang, who’d already been here with Hongjoong earlier that day, trying to work down his list of difficult potions he hadn’t been able to finish yet. Jongho had figured that it was best to accompany Yeosang. You know, just in case he needed help with anything. Not because Jongho enjoyed spend time with him a lot more than with anyone else these days.

Jongho offered to help him with the actual potion-making but Yeosang only claimed that he needed to focus, his hair slightly messy from running his hands through it so often and his brows furrowed in concentration. He resembled some kind of mad scientist and Jongho found it incredibly cute.

He smirked as he passed Yeosang the stack of wormwood. “Am I too distracting?”

Yeosang tried to slap his arm but missed, as his eyes were glued to his notes. “Be quiet,” he said, unable to hide his flustered smile. Jongho would be a damn liar if he said he didn’t love flustering him and watching him try to hide it.

They fell into a routine of Yeosang working on various potions in silence and Jongho searching for some Charms that might give them an advantage in battle, occasionally assisting Yeosang whenever he asked him to.

The hours passed by as Yeosang created multiple flasks worth of Star Grass Salve, Wiggenweld Potion, Invisibility Potion, Vitamix Potion, Wound-Cleaning Potion, along with some various other healing potions and throwables Hongjoong had invented. Jongho didn’t know too much about their effects and he chose not to question it either.

Yeosang was in his element, and the fact that he saw the results of his work towards Wooyoung’s rescue seemed to ease his mind.

Or so it did at least until he started to work on the Essence of Dittany.

He tried to get it right for an hour, going back and forth between throwing away his failed attempts and starting over. His expression turned more and more frustrated by the minute.

“This isn’t working!” Yeosang exclaimed after messing it up for the fifth time. He sighed in irritation and let the frog brain drop back into its glass and took off his gloves before burying his face in his hands. He hadn’t taken a break since they had snuck into the classroom.

Jongho abandoned his limited edition of _Advanced Charms VII: Mastering the Science of Nonverbal and Wandless Charmwork_ and sat down next to him on the bench. He quietly observed him for a moment until he realized that Yeosang was letting out soft sobs. Jongho scooted closer and gently took Yeosang’s wrists to remove his hands from his face. Yeosang didn’t resist but turned away, too embarrassed to look at him directly.

“Look at me,” Jongho said in a calm and soft voice.

Yeosang hesitated before slowly turning to him. A few tears were traveling down his cheeks and Jongho could tell he was trying to fight them back. He only glanced at Jongho for a moment before looking away again, new tears forming in his eyes and another quiet sob escaping his lips.

Jongho’s heart broke as he watched him. Tired, worried, frustrated and exhausted. He knew this wasn’t just because he couldn’t get the potion right.

Yeosang didn’t need to say anything for him to know.

Jongho was still holding onto Yeosang’s wrists when he wordlessly pulled him into a hug. Yeosang let him.

He finally stopped trying to hold back the tears rolling down his face and let out more sobs as he leaned into Jongho’s embrace. Yeosang had slung his arms around Jongho’s torso, his hands holding gripping into his robes as he let his chin rest on his shoulder. One of Jongho’s hands was buried in Yeosang’s hair while the other held his waist. They stayed like this for minutes.

“I just miss him so much…” Yeosang admitted without letting go. His voice sounded weak. “I wish we could just storm in and get Wooyoung out of there right now.”

Jongho felt the same way, though it didn’t hit him as hard as it hit Yeosang. The Ravenclaw had a unique connection with Wooyoung that only few people really understood. He had always given his best to protect Wooyoung from any sort of harm and the fact that he couldn’t do anything for him at the moment must’ve made him feel helpless. Jongho didn’t know the details of what kind of backstory the two of them had, but he knew that Wooyoung was pretty much the most important person in Yeosang’s life.

“Why him? Merlin only knows who those people are, what they’re capable of and what they want from him... I’m just so scared. Scared that he’s hurt, scared that they’re going to…”

“No. Wooyoung is smart, strong and he’s resourceful. He can get through this and we’re going to save him,” Jongho interrupted him, trying to believe in his own words and sounding reassuring.

It seemed to work. Yeosang relaxed a little bit and pulled away to look up at him. He even managed to show a small smile. “How are you so sure?”

Jongho smiled back. “What can I say, I’m a confident guy. As soon as we find those guys who took him, I’m gonna beat them up myself. Especially if I have Half-Blood Prince 2.0 as my sidekick.”

He got Yeosang to chuckle. “Despite the fact that I’m a pureblood, I’m flattered. I am by no means a sidekick though.”

Jongho grinned in return. At least he had managed to calm him down a little. He was also very aware of the fact that they were still pressed against one another, arms wrapped around each other and their faces only inches apart. He felt his heartbeat pick up in excitement and a hint of nervousness.

Yeosang’s eyes were a little red from crying and he was sniffling from time to time, which was beyond cute to Jongho. He reached out to move a strand of Yeosang's bangs out of his face before letting his hand rest on his cheek. He liked doing that. He liked looking at him. Being so close to him that he could feel his warmth. Touching him. Feeling him. It was a mystery to Jongho how he had known him since their first year at Hogwarts without ever realizing how breathtaking he was.

Jongho wiped away what was left of Yeosang’s tears and looked into his eyes. Internally, he decided that he wanted to make sure that Yeosang never needed to cry again. He then realized the cheesiness of his own thoughts and felt his cheeks heat up.

Yeosang simply held his eye contact and smiled before he pulled Jongho closer and kissed him. It was slow, gentle and sweet at first. Jongho felt himself ease into it as he kept a firm grip on Yeosang’s hips. It lasted a lot longer than the one they had shared the night of the party or the one in the library, and it also became that much more heated.

Jongho had forgotten all about why they were even here, how things had come to this and how much he’d wanted this. It was like his mind was dazed and everything around them became irrelevant as they kissed for what must’ve been minutes by now. All he could focus on was Yeosang. His lips, his smooth skin and soft hair, his arms holding on to Jongho’s shoulders and his legs – one of which was now moving over Jongho’s lap so that Yeosang faced him, one leg on each side of him.

Jongho’s heart was racing at this compromising position and he instinctively pulled Yeosang closer by the hips. Yeosang put his arms around Jongho’s neck and let his fingers play with Jongho’s dark locks, all the while deepening their kiss.

Jongho was about to let his lips trail to Yeosang’s neck when the smell of something burning caused them to break apart.

Yeosang had forgotten to get rid of the ruined potion after getting frustrated with it and it had now started to boil over and spill onto the table. He scooted off of Jongho, who rushed to take the cauldron off the fire and used his wand to empty it before awkwardly sitting back down on the bench. They exchanged glances but Yeosang quickly looked away in embarrassment.

Jongho could still feel Yeosang’s lips against his and tried not to think about what would’ve happened if that potion hadn’t interrupted them. His nervousness and excitement returned. He tried to come up with something to say but Yeosang was faster.

“That was nice… thank you. I think I needed that,” Yeosang mumbled, causing Jongho to turn to him.

“The comforting… or the kiss?”

“Both.” There was a pause as Yeosang looked at him. Then he chuckled. “I can’t believe this. My best friend goes missing and here I am, making out with his roommate.”

Jongho grinned. “I don’t think that’s all that bad. I’d call it a coping mechanism.”

Yeosang tried to slap his shoulder but Jongho evaded his attack once again. He smiled and kissed Jongho’s cheek before starting over once again with the Essence of Dittany. Jongho smirked and returned to his book about Advanced Charms though he wasn’t really reading it anymore.

It took a great deal of self-control to not go over there and just kiss Yeosang again. He didn’t know what it was that was happening between them. If you’d asked him a week ago, he would’ve laughed about the idea of a making out session with Yeosang in his lap in one of the Potions classrooms. But now? He liked that idea far more than he should have and he couldn’t wait for whatever came next.

**Thursday, December 1st. 09:15PM. Hogwarts, Slytherin Dorms. Choi San.**

Past-San spun around when the Owlery door was opened with a loud creak. He’d just tied his mail to his owl’s leg when the loud noise startled him. He relaxed again when he recognized the figure entering the room. “ _Oh, it’s you,_ ” Past-San said with a grin.

 _“San,_ ” Wooyoung smiled brightly and approached him. “ _I didn’t expect you here. What are you doing?_ ”

“ _Sending a letter to my parents. They always want me to tell them that I arrived safely as soon as I get here,”_ Past-San explained as Wooyoung took a seat on the stairs next to him.

 _“Is that your owl?”_ he asked, regarding the little creature on Past-San’s arm fondly.

“ _Yeah, his name’s Spooky,”_ Past-San responded. _“Spooky, that’s Wooyoung, the cutest guy in the entire castle.”_

Wooyoung blushed a little and gave San a shy smile before reaching forward to pet Spooky. He gasped quietly. _“Wow, he’s so soft!”_

Spooky nibbled on Wooyoung’s finger, making him chuckle. Past-San grinned, “ _He likes you.”_

Wooyoung smiled and pet him for a little longer until Past-San got up and carried him to the window. Spooky spread his wings and set off to deliver his letter. Past-San watched him disappear in the distance and dusted off his robes before stretching his arm out to Wooyoung, who then took his hand and let him pull him to his feet. He didn’t let go of it afterwards.

They smiled at each other for a few seconds and were about to leave the Owlery when Past-San broke the silence.

“ _Wait, did you wanna send anything?”_ he asked with a chuckle.

 _“Oh, right! Yeah, that was the whole reason I came here actually,”_ Wooyoung laughed and got a small letter out of the pocket of his robes. “ _It’s a letter for my uncle Stephan, give me a second.”_

He rushed back to the windows and tied his letter to one of the big owls provided by the school before sending it off through the window. He then returned to Past-San’s side and took his hand again as they left the Owlery.

They didn’t really have a specific destination and strolled over the fields and past the Stone Circle almost automatically. When they arrived at the Clocktower Courtyard, they decided to take a seat on one of the many stone benches before going in. Wooyoung leaned against Past-San’s shoulder as soon as they sat down, causing Past-San to put an arm around him.

It was beautiful. The view of the sun heading toward the horizon and coloring the sky in beautiful shades of orange, yellow, and pink, the trees starting to change colors and the cobbled ground covered in fallen autumn leaves. San observed the happiness and relaxation on his past self’s face as the warm September breeze ruffled through his black and Wooyoung’s brown hair.

He’d been so carefree back then, so happy, so safe. San felt the wish to simply go back to those days when Wooyoung was by his side and he didn’t have to about anything but classes and homework. He wished he could just stay in those memories of his and Wooyoung’s forever.

Wooyoung was the one to break the silence, ripping San out of his thoughts. “ _How was your summer?”_

 _“It was nice. My parents and I spent most of the time in a fancy hotel near a beach in Spain and then travelled around some other places in Europe, just like every year,”_ Past-San explained. “ _What about yours?”_

Wooyoung shrugged. _“Oh, mine was rather boring. I obviously wasn’t allowed to use magic, so I spent most of my time inside, playing video games with Yeosang and eating way too much ice cream. And…”_ Wooyoung hesitated. _“I really missed you… a lot.”_

Past-San grinned confidently. “ _I missed you too.”_

Wooyoung shifted his position to lie down on the bench, letting his head rest in San’s lap. San instinctively reached out to graze his cheeks until Wooyoung took his hand and interlaced their fingers.

Wooyoung looked up at him with that beautiful smile of his. When he spoke up again, his voice was soft and just loud enough for Past-San to hear. _“Hanging out with Yeosang was nice but… I couldn’t get you out of my head. I really wanted to see your face.”_

Past-San’s grin widened. _“It really is a shame we couldn’t meet up. I would’ve loved to take you skinny dipping with me.”_

Wooyoung bit his lip when Past-San leaned down to kiss his cheek. That’s when a droplet of water landed on Wooyoung’s forehead, startling him. Past-San looked up at the sky and had the same thing happen to him before the few gentle raindrops turned into a whole rain shower, causing them to jump to their feet.

Giggling, Wooyoung once again took Past-San’s hand as they ran toward the entrance, but the door to the clocktower wouldn’t budge, trapping them outside in the rain. They tried to push it open a few more times but it was no use.

So instead, they ended up embracing the situation and let the rain soak their hair and clothes. San watched Wooyoung and his past self run around, laugh and dance in the pouring rain until he felt that his time was up, and he was dragged back to the present.

He found himself breathing heavily as he laid on his back in the safety of the curtains he had drawn around his bed before traveling back. He stared at the golden time turner in his hand.

For some reason the wave of emotions that always overcame him after going back in time to see Wooyoung hit him harder than ever this time. It engulfed him, knocked the breath out of his lungs and filled his head with too many thoughts, too many _feelings_. His heart was racing in his chest and the silence of the dorm room suddenly seemed so loud to his ears.

He startled when he saw the curtains shift a little as Mingi peeked inside. He hadn’t even heard him come in.

“Hey…,” he started, “are you okay?”

San wasn’t okay. Everything was getting too much, and he was slowly going insane, but he didn’t want to show it. He didn’t want to talk about it, didn’t want to be seen right now. But Mingi was waiting for an answer, so he shrugged in an attempt to seem nonchalant.

Mingi climbed into San’s bed and closed the curtains behind him. San avoided his best friend’s eyes.

“I think it’s better if you don’t go back in time to see Wooyoung anymore…”

“What?”

“It’s not good for you, bro.”

San stared at him in disbelief and felt anger boil up inside him. He couldn’t believe him. Did Mingi really not understand why he was doing this? Did he really not see that San had no choice but to take desperate measures? That he had a good reason for acting like this?

Something about the sympathetic look on Mingi’s face only fueled San’s anger. He really didn’t need to be treated like a pre-teen with some stupid addiction to Chocolate Frogs, especially not by his best friend.

“Are you joking? What else am I supposed to do? If you haven’t noticed, Wooyoung is fucking kidnapped!”

Mingi raised his hands in defense. “Look, I understand how you feel, but – ”

“ _Understand how I feel?_ ” San interrupted him, now shouting. “You don’t understand anything!”

“Dwelling on the past won’t do anything to help the real Wooyoung right now!”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about!”

And before San could say anything else, Mingi snatched the time turner out of his hand in a swift motion, successfully catching San off guard, and slipped back through the curtains.

“H-hey!” San blinked in shock and confusion but followed him immediately. “What do you think you’re doing? Give it back!”

Mingi held the time turner high up over his head, making use of his height so that San couldn’t reach it. He was almost a head taller than San, which was extremely frustrating in situations like this.

“No,” Mingi replied stubbornly.

San jumped, trying in vain to knock the device out of Mingi’s hand. “I’m so going to curse you!”

“I’m doing this for you! Don’t you wanna save Wooyoung?”

“Is that even a fucking question?”

“Then stop playing with this and do something useful instead!”

San was boiling with anger, but no matter how hard he glared, Mingi wasn’t going to change his mind. He could be a stubborn motherfucker sometimes.

San didn’t say anything else. He turned on his heel and returned to his bed. He drew the curtains with so much fierce, they sounded like they were threatening to rip. He didn’t go to sleep right away, of course. He was far too angry to sleep. His heart was beating angrily in his chest and his thoughts were racing. So instead, he just lay there, listening to Mingi climb into his own bed.

**Thursday, December 1st. 09:40PM. Ministry of Magic, Department of Mysteries, Office B. Jung Wooyoung.**

Wooyoung had made up his mind. He was tired of sitting around and letting those people do whatever they want to him. He needed to go into the offensive.

What had the New Lord said yesterday? It would take them until the weekend to ‘fix’ whatever problem they had? He just had to get out of here until then.

Wooyoung’s eyes scanned the room, looking for anything useful that could help his desperate escape plans. He then looked at the guard and considered him for a moment before clearing his throat.

“Um, excuse me…” he started, unsure how to go about this. He decided to put on his most friendly and charming smile. “Could you tell me what day of the week it is?” he asked carefully.

The guard turned to him and eyed him somewhat hesitantly, his eyes slightly squinted in suspicion.

“It’s hard to keep track of time in here,” Wooyoung added, trying to seem as innocent and harmless as possible.

The guard shot a glance at the door before he answered, as if to make sure that nobody was within earshot. “It is Thursday.”

Thursday...? Had he really been here since Saturday night? He tried not to let the newly gathered piece of information throw him off too much as he came up to the bars and leaned against them.

“I’d seriously kill for a snack right now,” Wooyoung said, trying to sound conversational. The guard only looked at him for a brief second before trying to get his stoic expression back in order.

An awkward silence passed as Wooyoung tried to think of a way to get any kind of small talk out of that guy. _Questions, ask him some question_.

“So, um, have you worked for these people long?” he tried again.

“You could say that,” the guard answered stiffly, although still not looking at Wooyoung directly. Despite that, he was glad he had even bothered to answer at all.

“Really? You can’t be that much older than me,” Wooyoung replied.

It wasn’t a lie. The guard didn’t look a day older than twenty-three. He, too, had a Russian accent even though his was much more subtle than the New Lord’s. His eyes had the same hint of pale gray and his brown hair reached down to his chin. He only glanced at Wooyoung and didn’t reply.

“Did you… go to Hogwarts?”

“No.”

“You don’t talk very much, huh?”

“I am supposed to watch you, not entertain you.”

Wooyoung pouted and made a frustrated noise. “You can’t imagine how boring these last few days have been. I just want to talk for a while. I won’t tell on you, I promise,” he said. The guard sighed before turning a little to look at Wooyoung properly.

“Listen, I understand that you are lonely, but I cannot be your friend. I am not even supposed to talk to you at all.”

“But you are,” Wooyoung pointed out, unable to hide a real grin.

“I suppose so.”

“Then you might as well keep talking to me as long as nobody’s around.”

Another sigh. “Fine...”

“So, what do you do for fun?” The guard gave him a look and Wooyoung chuckled. “What? I mean, _I_ like to party and spend time with my friends. As you probably know I celebrated my seventeenth birthday the day I was brought here... I just didn’t expect it to end this way...”

“Well,” the guard replied, “I did not expect to spend my pre-Christmas time down in the Department of Mysteries either but here I am...”

“Wait, the Department of Mysteries? In the Ministry of Magic?”

The guard’s eyes widened. He looked like he wanted to smack himself but Wooyoung just kept staring back at him, hoping he would elaborate. Which of course, he didn’t.

So, he was at the Ministry of Magic. In the most secretive and well-protected department of them all. The thought of being rescued suddenly seemed a lot more hopeless. It looked like he had to find a way to get out of here by himself.

“Um, so... how about that snack?” Wooyoung asked, trying to lighten up the mood. Again, he did not succeed but the guard also didn’t completely shut down.

“I cannot leave my post. You will get dinner soon.” So it was evening. Maybe he could still come across some ministry workers if he made it out of the Department of Mysteries somehow? Maybe one of them would be able to help him if he was fast enough.

“But I’m so _hungry_ ,” Wooyoung whined. “Won’t you _please_ get me a sandwich?” he gave the guard his most pleading look, hoping that he could somehow convince him.

The guard hesitated, his eyes flickering back and forth between Wooyoung and the door. Eventually, his shoulders sacked in defeat. “Fine, I will – ”

But before he could finish his sentence the door opened, and another guard walked in with a tray. He put it on the ground before pushing it through the small gap between the floor and the bars. Wooyoung tried not to show how frustrated he was about his plan not working as he accepted his food. It was a delicious-smelling pile of pork chops. Wooyoung hadn’t been lying when he said he was hungry.

The new guard glowered at Wooyoung. Had he overheard part of their conversation? 

“Just in time. He would not stop whining about how hungry he is,” the guard who’d been staying with Wooyoung commented. Something about the uneasiness in his voice made Wooyoung wonder whether he had succeeded in softening him up a little bit with his small talk skills.

The other guard turned to him, his expression hard as stone. “Is that what you were talking about with him? You better follow your orders next time. You know what happens if you act up, Ilya.” His voice was just as cold as his eyes, very different from the guard Wooyoung had been talking to – Ilya. “Vas wants to see you,” he added.

Ilya gave Wooyoung an unsure look.

“I’ll stay here with him. Go.”

Wooyoung’s shoulders slumped. He already knew that there was no way for him to sway this new guard. He looked like he wouldn’t even move from his post if they told him his mom was on fire.

Ilya left without looking back, leaving Wooyoung with the other man as he tried to come up with a new escape plan. His best bet was still Ilya. Maybe he’d manage to butter him up some more the next time he was on watch.


	7. Friday, December 2nd

**Friday, December 2nd. 02:04AM. Hogwarts, Kitchens. Song Mingi.**

Mingi stopped dead in his tracks when he opened the door to the kitchen.

All he’d wanted was a late-night snack after he’d randomly woken up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and couldn’t fall back asleep. He hadn’t expected to meet Yunho here in the middle of the night.

Yunho stood in front of the stove, a quietly sizzling frying pan in his hand and his wand in the other. His hair was slightly messy — just like Mingi’s — and he was wearing loose muggle clothing as if he had been trying to sleep before coming here as well.

As soon as he’d noticed Mingi’s presence, Yunho turned around to him in surprise. Their eyes met for a moment and Mingi noticed just how tired he looked. Yunho regarded him with an unreadable expression for a few seconds before looking away again.

He pursed his lips bitterly and let his food float from the pan onto an empty plate on the counter.

“Sorry. I… didn’t know you were here,” Mingi said awkwardly.

“I was just about to leave anyway…” Yunho said. He muttered some incantation and with his flick of his wand, the kitchen utensils he had used cleaned themselves and disappeared into their respective cupboards and drawers, leaving only his plate with freshly made grilled cheese behind. He quickly grabbed it and squeezed past Mingi to leave the room, but Mingi held him back by grabbing his wrist.

“W-Wait, you don’t have to leave because of me. Let’s… talk,” Mingi replied hastily. Yunho turned back around to look at Mingi’s hand holding onto his wrist before raising his eyebrows at him. Mingi immediately let go of him. “Sorry…”

Much to his surprise, Yunho didn’t leave. Instead, he set down his grilled cheese and looked at him, his arms crossed over his chest. “You wanna talk? About what?”

Mingi hesitated before answering. He wasn’t prepared for this. He’d just wanted a sandwich before heading back to sleep.

But here he was, awkwardly standing in front of Yunho with his hair wild and unbrushed. Would it have killed him to use a brush before leaving the common room in the middle of the night?

Mingi quickly ran a hair through his hair in a late attempt to tame it a little. “Well, I, um, wanted to apologize for what happened in Slughorn’s pantry… I shouldn’t have kissed you when we were fighting. I didn’t mean to… well, take advantage of you or anything.”

Yunho looked a little surprised, flustered even. “Oh… that,” he replied and scratched the back of his head, his ears turning a little red, “…it’s okay, don’t worry about that.”

They fell into an awkward silence for a couple of seconds, before Mingi decided to break it. “That’s all I wanted to say, really. I’ll let you go now. I wouldn’t want to keep you from rejoining Hongjoong in bed.”

As soon as the words had left his lips, Mingi realized that he had said the wrong thing.

Yunho looked hurt. He scoffed in irritation and looked away, nodding to himself. “Of course.”

“What do you mean, _of course_?” asked Mingi and rolled his eyes.

“I should have known that you were going to start something like this again! And here I thought you were actually genuine for once!”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“This!” Yunho gestured around wildly, “You, indirectly calling me a whore every chance you get!”

“W-Well you called me a virgin!”

“You _are_ a virgin!”

Mingi threw up his hands in defense. “So what if I am? Why is that so bad?”

“You really don’t get what this is about, do you?”

“No! Maybe I don’t get it! Maybe I don’t want to throw myself at anyone who wants me! At least I have dignity!”

Yunho opened his mouth to say something, but the words didn’t seem to want to pass his lips. He huffed angrily as he grabbed his - now cooled off – grilled cheese, pushed Mingi aside, and stormed out of the kitchen, slamming the wooden door shut behind himself.

Mingi face-palmed himself as soon as Yunho had left.

What the hell was he doing? Why did he always have to get so angry when he thought about Yunho being with someone else? Why couldn’t he have just apologized and left it be? Why did he have to bring up Hongjoong of all people? All it did was make Yunho angry and push him even further away when Mingi wanted nothing more than to be close to him.

Mingi pulled the kitchen door back open and ran into the hallway, in the direction of where he believed the Hufflepuff Common Room to be, but it was no use. Yunho had already left.

**Friday, December 2nd. 08:55AM. Hogwarts, Slytherin Dorms. Choi San.**

San woke up late the next morning. He washed up and quickly threw on his robes before heading out of the common room. It was far too late to bother stopping by the Great Hall for breakfast, so he headed right for Charms.

His anger from last evening had cooled down a lot. In fact, he even felt a little bad for lashing out at Mingi like that. He’d been emotional and vulnerable, and he’d overreacted. Mingi was just trying to help, after all.

Of course San still wanted the time turner back, no question. But for now, he decided to focus on getting to Charms in time before coming up with a way to sneakily steal it back.

Luckily, he made it to the Charms classroom before Professor Knotts did. The classroom was filled with students of Gryffindor and Slytherin, but the teacher’s desk was still vacant.

Pleased, San let himself plop into an empty seat next to Mingi and was about to apologize for snapping at him last night when he saw how tired and upset his best friend looked.

“Are you okay, bro?” he asked carefully.

Mingi jumped in surprise and turned to look at San, dramatically putting a hand on his chest. “Where the hell did you come from?” he asked before sighing. “Yeah… I’m fine...”

San raised his eyebrows at the obvious lie.

Mingi met his eyes and gave him a forced smile in an attempt to uphold his act. However, after a little staring contest between them, San eventually got him to explain what had happened in the kitchens last night.

“…and I just don’t know why all of our conversations have to end in a fight. He always gets so angry at me…” Mingi sighed.

“Dude,” San said and put a hand on his shoulder, “he’s obviously upset about you calling him a whore. Just apologize to him.”

“I didn’t say it like that! And besides, he called me a virgin…”

“He’s just hurt. And rightfully so!” Mingi’s jaw dropped at those words in a mixture of surprise and exasperation. “Listen, bro, I love you. But you can’t shame him for dating a bunch of guys, no matter how far he goes with them. I’m sure he has his reasons.”

“Oh come on, why are you siding with him?” Mingi whined.

That’s when Professor Knotts entered the room is his stupid burgundy robes and a carefree grin on his face. He started his lesson right away and told them to open their books on page seventy-two they would be practicing the Aguamenti Charm.

San shot a glare his way and pulled his Charms book out of his bag before turning back to Mingi. “I’m not siding with anyone,” he told him. “I’m just saying that I understand why he would be upset because of that.”

Mingi looked down at the empty piece of parchment spread out in front of him. He pouted in defeat but didn’t say anything.

“Don’t be stupid, bro,” San added and put his hand on Mingi’s larger one. “Yunho likes you and you like him. Both of you just need to stop calling each other out for what you do and don’t do with your dicks.”

They were forced to stop talking when Knotts started to explain the Aguamenti Charm’s effects and how they were supposed to cast it. Long story short, it was a spell that allowed its caster to conjure a jet of clean, drinkable water from the end of the wand. Knotts then placed an empty bowl in front of every student in the room and told them to use _Aguamenti_ to fill it with water.

It didn’t take San long to get the hang of it and after about two minutes, he had already filled the bowl in front of him to the brim. Mingi however had a much harder time, which spoiled his already sour mood even further. No matter how hard he tried to get his wand to produce more than a few droplets of water, it just wouldn’t do what he wanted.

San would’ve tried to help him, but he knew that his stubborn friend would hate that even more.

“How come you’re always making it look so easy,” Mingi complained as he shook his wand in frustration, sprinkling his Charms book with droplets of water in the process.

His mood didn’t exactly get better when that trend continued at combat spell practice with the others. Mingi had mastered the wordless casting of the basic spells by now - due to his endless solo practice outside of Hongjoong’s lessons – but his struggles returned as soon as they started to work on new ones.

Hongjoong demonstrated four new spells to them, using a reluctant Seonghwa as his victim. He started off with _Petrificus Totalus_ , a curse that causes the victim’s arms and legs to snap together, causing them to fall. He also taught them _Flipendo_ , knockback jinx for both people and objects.

Everyone seemed to have adjusted to the new set of spells fairly quickly after around two hours of practicing, except for Mingi. Jongho tried his best to help him, but Mingi’s frustration with himself grew exponentially after trying and failing to knock back the chair in front of him for the twentieth time.

Nonetheless, they continued to practice on until around four in the afternoon, when Seonghwa excused himself, saying that he needed to report back to the headmistress.

“Don’t rat us out though,” Jongho joked, earning a chuckle from Seonghwa, who then turned to leave the room.

He was soon followed by Hongjoong who claimed that he needed to go to the Owlery, Yunho who just wanted to return to his common room, Jongho who headed to Quidditch practice, and Yeosang who tagged along with him, claiming that he didn’t have much else to do.

San decided to head back to the Slytherin Common Room as well and was already on his way out when he turned around. “Bro, are you coming?” he asked Mingi, who hadn’t moved an inch.

He was still standing in the middle of the room, his wand still in his hand, and shaking his head. “I’ll stay behind and practice some more,” he said.

San smiled and nodded before leaving. Once outside in the hallway, he spotted Yunho and quickly caught up to him. He then reached for Yunho’s arm and held him back, causing him to turn around.

“San, what’s up?” Yunho chuckled, sounding confused.

“I just, um, wanted to say that you’re doing really well with the new spells,” San replied, pulling him aside.

Yunho smiled. “Thanks. I’m doing my best. You and Jongho are much better than me though.”

“Thanks,” San sheepishly scratched the back of his head. Yunho was about to leave again when San held him back once more. “Yunho, wait. Actually I wanted to talk to you about something else.”

“To me? About what?”

San hesitated for a moment. “It’s about Mingi…”

“Oh.” Yunho’s smile faded at the mention of his name. “Did he send you to do his dirty work?”

“You know he’s not one to do that. And neither am I,” San replied calmly.

Yunho sighed and relaxed a little. “Right, sorry…”

“Listen, I just wanted to hear your take on how things are between you guys right now. Call me nosey, but I can tell that neither of you are happy with this. You know what I’m talking about.”

“I…” Yunho paused, probably contemplating his next words, “It’s just that I’m starting to lose hope when it comes to him. I know, I should have given up on him right after he rejected me last year. But when he kisses me, I forget all about that and just want it to last… and I always end up regretting it.” His expression turned bitter as he continued. “He’s just playing with me and I’m stupid enough to let him.”

After a few seconds, San chuckled, earning a frown from Yunho.

“What’s so funny about that?”

San nudged his side. “Both of you are idiots. You both like each other so much and yet, you can’t seem to make it work.”

Yunho scoffed. “Yeah, right. Mingi doesn’t like me like that. I don’t think he ever has. He thinks of me as a whore only because I dated a few more guys than average.”

“He doesn’t really think that. He’s just extremely jealous.”

“Jealous of what? _He_ was the one to reject _me_!”

“Do you seriously not realize that he’s jealous of you and Hongjoong? He glares holes into Hongjoong’s back every time he comes near you!”

Yunho looked a little flustered at those words. “W-well he has no right to be jealous! And besides, it’s not like Hongjoong and I are actually together or anything.’

San raised an eyebrow. “You aren’t?”

Yunho’s eyes widened as he realized what he'd said. He looked conflicted, hesitant to answer that question.

“I promise I won’t tell Mingi,” San smirked. Yunho bit his lip and glanced over at the door of the former Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. They could hear the sound of Mingi damaging various objects in the room while wordlessly practicing his offensive spells.

“Fine,” he sighed. “No, Hongjoong and I aren’t together. Sure, we do flirt sometimes, but we don’t like each other like that. In fact…” he hesitated once more and lowered his voice, “it was Hongjoong’s idea to make Mingi a little jealous…”

San’s jaw dropped. He obviously hadn’t expected that. Now it suddenly made lot of sense that Yunho had been very vocal about meeting up with Hongjoong whenever Mingi was around, or that they seemed overly touchy with each other whenever Mingi looked in their direction. Yunho showed a guilty smile as he watched San’s expression change in realization.

“You – ” San started. “Wow, okay.”

Yunho’s expression grew worried. “You really can’t tell him!”

“I won’t, I won’t. I’m a man of my word,” San reassured him, “but where is this plan going?”

“I don’t know! I never even expected it to work in the first place! I thought Mingi wasn’t interested in me whatsoever and I still don’t believe he is…” Yunho said, “at least not seriously. And I probably shouldn’t be interested in him either.”

San smiled. “I know this is the most basic advice one could give, but… you just need to follow your heart when it comes to Mingi. Sure, he can be a dumbass sometimes and he’s really clumsy with stuff that involves feelings, but he’s not a bad guy. Talk it out with him. Give him another chance.”

Yunho sighed and looked outside the window in thought. “You and Wooyoung make it look so easy. And even Jongho and Yeosang look like they’re gonna get their sweet and happy ending,” he said rather absentmindedly. He didn’t sound bitter this time, but the regret in his voice was clear as day.

His eyes then widened, and he gave San an uneasy look, probably feeling guilty about bringing up Wooyoung. San didn’t mind, however.

“Wooyoung is…” San couldn’t stop a smile from creeping onto his lips, “He’s making it really easy for me to want to give him the world. He and I can talk about anything. Problems don’t even get a chance to arise between us,” he said.

Yunho returned his smile. “I’m a little envious of you two. You really seem like you were made for each other.”

San felt his smile fade a little when he was reminded of the state Wooyoung was in. He was still helplessly trapped in his cell as they spoke. The feeling of their time running out overcame him again. They still weren’t prepared enough to break into the ministry. He felt guilty for standing around and chatting with Yunho instead of working to make progress. The familiar feeling of anxiety washed over him, and his insides felt like somebody was squeezing them together.

Yunho noticed San’s mood shift and put an arm around his shoulder. “We’re going to get there in time. I know you’re worried, but you don’t have to go through this alone.”

San smiled up at him. “Thanks, Yunho. We wouldn’t be able to pull through with this mission at all if it wasn’t for your help.”

“You’re giving me too much credit,” Yunho chuckled, “but thank you. I won’t let you down.”

After that, the two of them headed back to the dungeons together, before they had to part ways. San could only hope that his talk with Yunho might make things a little between him and Mingi. If only the two of them got a chance to talk everything out, maybe they would finally realize that they’re both idiots and that their crushes are mutual.

**Friday, December 2nd. 06:21PM. Hogwarts, Astronomy Tower. Choi Jongho.**

“I haven’t been up here past dark in a long time,” Yeosang said, smiling up at the sky, “well, outside of class that is.”

He lifted up his arm as if to try and reach for the stars. His breath formed small clouds in the cold air as his eyes roamed the night sky in silent awe. The moonlight lit up his soft features and Jongho couldn’t take his eyes off him. His skin looked so smooth and delicate, his eyes had a pretty glint of interest and amusement in them, his ears, nose and cheeks were flushed by the cold, and his lips looked soft and pink as ever. His smile seemed carefree and genuine for a change.

“They’re so beautiful…” Yeosang muttered and Jongho only hummed in agreement, still staring at him. He stopped himself from telling Yeosang that they were nothing compared to him, because that would be far too stereotypical and cheesy.

“Oh!” Yeosang suddenly exclaimed, pointing up at the sky in excitement. “A shooting star! Did you see that?”

Jongho ripped his eyes away from Yeosang and looked up at the sky. He was just fast enough to see it disappear. “I did!” he smiled.

“Quick, make a wish,” Yeosang grinned and closed his eyes, silently making his wish.

Jongho thought about it for a few seconds before he decided what to wish for. _Next time I go to the Three Broomsticks, please let it be with eight people,_ he thought, smiling.

“What did you wish for?” asked Yeosang.

Jongho scoffed. “It won’t come true if I tell you, silly.”

Scowling, Yeosang turned to look back up at the stars, and Jongho chuckled to himself before doing the same.

The air soon got colder as the minutes went by, and Yeosang started to rub his hands against each other in an attempt to warm them. Jongho took off his Gryffindor scarf and put it around Yeosang’s neck, catching him by surprise.

“Oh, thank you,” Yeosang said and cutely nuzzled his face in it. Jongho’s heart did a thing when he smiled at him.

After a few more moments of silence, Jongho spoke up again. “It’s getting pretty cold. Should we go back inside? I could make you some tea if you want…”

“Tea actually sounds amazing right now,” Yeosang said and linked arms with Jongho as they went inside.

Only a few minutes later, they entered the Gryffindor Common Room and climbed up the stone stairs to the sixth-year boys’ dorm with warm cups of tea in their hands.

Jongho suddenly regretted not tidying up before inviting Yeosang over and hastily tucked a worn-out pair of socks and a half-finished bag of nuts into the suitcase under his bed.

Luckily, Yeosang didn’t notice. He’d turned to look into the other direction where Wooyoung’s bed stood, as untouched as ever. Yeosang stayed there for a moment, the familiar sad look in his eyes.

Jongho mentally slapped himself for bringing him here, knowing how sensitive he was about the whole Wooyoung situation. He was about to suggest going somewhere else when Yeosang sighed and turned away from Wooyoung’s bed.

He took a sip of his tea and moved on to look at Jongho’s bedside table, a soft smile on his face. His expression changed when he saw something that sparked his interest.

“A potion?” he questioned, already examining the bottle he’d spotted on Jongho’s nightstand. Yeosang didn’t give Jongho a chance to respond as he confirmed his own assumption by removing the cork and smelling it. His eyes widened. “Amortentia? Why do you have a sample of the most powerful love potion in existence just casually standing on your nightstand?”

Jongho shrugged. “It was a gift.”

“From whom?”

“I don’t know. I found it on my bed sometime in our fourth year and kept it because it smelled nice.”

Yeosang chuckled and shook his head. “Of course it smells nice. It has a different aroma for everyone who smells it, depending on what they find attractive, even if the person doesn’t acknowledge or isn’t aware of the fondness for the object of their affection themselves…” He trailed off, realizing that he’d been rambling.

A cute blush spread over his face.

“What does it smell like to you?” asked Jongho.

Yeosang smelled the potion once more. “It’s a mixture of fresh snow, something flowery… I think it might be roses, and chicken of course,” he replied. “What about you?”

He stretched out his arm to hand Jongho the bottle.

“I smell cinnamon… apples…” Jongho said, trying to discern all the different scents coming to his mind, “and something woody… a broomstick?”

“A Quidditch player through and through,” Yeosang laughed and retrieved the bottle from him before putting it back on the nightstand. He then moved on to the picture frame next to it.

It was a picture of the Gryffindor team from two years ago. Jongho and Wooyoung were both on it, of course. It had been taken after the team had won the Quidditch Cup at the end of the season.

Yeosang smiled wryly as he looked at it. “Sometimes I forget how close you two really are. I mean, you’re roommates of course, but still…” he admitted.

“I suppose we are. We actually had our first conversation right here on our first day six years ago,” Jongho said, smiling at the memory. “He introduced himself to me because our beds were next to each other, but we only became good friends when we both joined the Quidditch team.”

Yeosang’s smile widened a little, and he put away the picture frame and his empty cup of tea before taking a seat next to Jongho on the bed.

“I remember how we used to go to Hogsmeade every single weekend in our third year. We always shared the truckload of snacks we bought there and talked about our favorite Quidditch teams. He gave me a thirty-minute speech about how the Chudley Canons are so much better than the Holyhead Harpies – which is absolute bullshit by the way,” Jongho told Yeosang, who broke into his melodic laughter.

There was a comfortable moment of silence between them before Yeosang nudged Jongho’s side. “I honestly think you might be the best Keeper the Gryffindor Quidditch team has ever seen.”

Jongho blinked in surprise at the sudden compliment. “Y-You really think so?”

“Are you kidding? You didn’t let a single Quaffle come near those goalposts earlier!” Yeosang chuckled.

“I don’t always play that good,” Jongho grinned, “That was only because I had my new lucky charm watching me from the stands.”

Yeosang chuckled once more and Jongho couldn’t help but stare at him.

They had gotten so close to each other again. Yeosang’s smile had faded and turned into an unreadable expression. His sweet brown eyes took a glance at Jongho’s lips before looking back into his eyes and Jongho felt like he was going to explode if he didn’t kiss Yeosang right now.

But, once again, Yeosang was the one to close the distance between them and capture Jongho’s lips in a sweet kiss. The latter instinctively put his hands on Yeosang’s small waist and felt him relax against his lips. Yeosang’s arms found their way around Jongho’s neck, just like they had yesterday in the potions classroom, as he leaned backwards to lie down on Jongho’s bed without breaking the kiss.

Following his lead, Jongho hovered over him, holding himself up with one arm on each side of the boy beneath him. His left hand roamed over Yeosang’s upper body and he eventually started loosening his Ravenclaw tie.

Jongho felt himself ease into the kiss and got lost in the feeling of Yeosang kissing him like his life depended on it and his hands going from gripping into the back of his robes to gently tugging at his hair.

Yeosang pulled away for air after Jongho had undone the first button of the white button-up the Ravenclaw wore beneath his black robes and let his head fall back into the fluffy red pillow.

Jongho took the opportunity to leave a few soft kisses on his neck before reconnecting their lips. Yeosang returned his kiss at first but soon turned a little tense.

“Jongho…” he said between kisses, “what are we doing?”

“Um,” Jongho paused and chuckled, wondering if it was a trick question, “kissing?”

Yeosang gently pushed him off and sat up. “No, I meant… where are we even going with this?”

“Wherever you want this to go, I mean you started it,” replied Jongho with a shrug, but Yeosang only rolled his eyes.

“Can you please be serious for once?”

“I am being serious. What's wrong all of a sudden? If you want to stop, you can just tell me.”

“It’s not that I want to stop, it’s because everything is always so casual with you!” Yeosang exclaimed. “I can’t tell if you're doing this because you like me or if you’re just fooling around!”

“I don’t know! I'm doing it because it feels right!”

A tense silence settled between them. Yeosang avoided his eyes and absent-mindedly let his hands draw patterns into the sheets.

Jongho didn’t understand where all of this had come from or how this had escalated so quickly. After all, Yeosang had always been the one to kiss him first so far. Jongho had just gone along with it. He’d gotten used to this new energy between them and he wanted it to continue, but a part of him was now starting to doubt that Yeosang felt the same way about him.

He bit his lip in thought.

“What about you?” he spoke up after another minute of silence, causing Yeosang to look up.

“Huh?”

“Are you doing this because you like me?”

Yeosang looked away again and his cheeks turned as pink as his slightly swollen lips. “I-I don't know…” he mumbled uneasily.

Jongho pursed his lips and nodded slowly. Disappointment settled in his chest. Yeosang couldn't even give him a straight answer about his own feelings after calling him out. Was he just playing around with him whenever it felt convenient? Whenever he needed some comfort?

“I think _you're_ the one who needs to stop fooling around,” Jongho decided and watched Yeosang’s expression turn either sour or upset, Jongho couldn't tell.

Yeosang sat there for a moment longer before getting up to leave the room.

Jongho sighed ran a hand through his dark hair in frustration as soon as the door had fallen shut behind Yeosang. Had he just been a distraction to him this whole time? He suddenly felt stupid and played. Maybe he had misinterpreted Yeosang’s kisses all along.

**Friday, December 2nd. 08:47PM. Hogwarts, Fourth Floor. Park Seonghwa.**

Of course Seonghwa knew how important the mission was and that contributing to Wooyoung’s rescue had top priority, but he still needed to get as many ‘Outstanding’ N.E.W.T.s as humanly possible. The Study Area was reserved for prefects and Quidditch captains, and it was Seonghwa’s last resort to study in peace.

Ever since he had joined in on the mission to save Wooyoung, he hadn’t been able to study much, and he really needed to catch up on that missed time, but the library, the Study Hall and even the Ravenclaw Common Room had all been full of chatting students.

That’s how Seonghwa ended up making his way through the secret passageway behind one specific bookshelf on the fourth floor and squeezed through the door that led to the Study Area.

Unfortunately, it was not as empty as he had hoped.

Hongjoong and Yunho were there, lounging on one of the cozy couches in the middle of the relatively small room. Hongjoong was lazily sprawled over Yunho’s lap, supporting himself with his elbows as his eyes skimmed over the book in his hands. Yunho’s one hand rested on Hongjoong’s lower back, playing around with the hem of his shirt, while his other hand held his wand as he practiced his Bird-Conjuring Charm. Light blue sparks surrounded the tip of it as he controlled the small yellow creatures twittering and zooming through the air above them.

Seonghwa seemed to have interrupted them mid-conversation and they both turned to him as he uselessly stood in the doorframe. Both of them flashed him a smile.

“Seonghwa,” Hongjoong said with casual delight.

“Only prefects are allowed in here,” Seonghwa said automatically as he eyed Yunho.

Hongjoong laughed. “Don’t be a buzzkill. We’re just…” he mischievously grinned up at Yunho who smiled back at him, “studying.”

Turning to leave now that he had already walked in on the two Hufflepuffs in front of him would have been too awkward, so Seonghwa decided to step further into the room, heading for the couch across from them. Seonghwa threw them a suspicious glance but chose not to put up a fight. He sighed and set down his books on the table between them.

“As expected of our model student. I was wondering how long it would take for you to hit the books again, even at a time like this,” Hongjoong teased.

Seonghwa shrugged. “As much as I want to give my all for Wooyoung’s rescue, I can’t give up on my studies. My entire future depends on those N.E.W.T.s after all.”

Hongjoong playfully rolled his eyes. “How admirable of you, pretty boy.”

Yunho chuckled. “You have to take your N.E.W.T.s too this year, Joong. Shouldn’t you be studying like Seonghwa?”

“I don’t need to study. I’m a genius. A living legend.”

Yunho scoffed and ruffled through Hongjoong’s blonde hair. “I had to study my ass off day and night to get my O.W.L.s last year and I still didn’t get as many as Yeosang. It’s not fair,” he said, scowling. His hand was playing with the hem of Hongjoong’s shirt on his lower back again.

Hongjoong cooed at him. “Don’t worry, handsome. I’ll teach you my ways next time.”

Yunho smiled. “Really?”

“Obviously.”

With a flick of Yunho’s wand, the birds above them got into a new formation and zoomed around Yunho in a perfect circle.

“You’re getting good,” Hongjoong commented and turned a page.

Seonghwa tried to focus on his studies but he couldn't help but get distracted by their conversation. He silently watched as Hongjoong gave Yunho some instructions on his Bird-Conjuring Charm, both of them laughing about their banter.

“By the way, when was your essay about Venomous Tentaculas due again?”

Yunho’s eyes widened as he looked at the clock above the door. “Shit. It’s due tomorrow! I almost forgot about that! I’d better get going,” he exclaimed and lifted Hongjoong off his lap. He then pressed a quick kiss to his cheek and gathered his belongings.

Hongjoong seemed surprised with the gesture and reached up to touch his cheek where Yunho had kissed him, chuckling.

Seonghwa awkwardly shifted in his seat and looked away. He felt like he’d invaded their privacy simply by watching this exchange. 

“See you later,” Yunho said as he left. “And good luck with your studies, Seonghwa.”

The door fell shut and a silence settled over the room after the sound of Yunho’s footsteps had faded.

Seonghwa allowed himself to look at Hongjoong again. He had returned to reading his book, his features relaxed and content.

He hesitated for a few moments before speaking. “You and Yunho… since when have you been dating?”

Hongjoong raised his eyebrows at him. “I didn’t think you’d be interested in my love life.”

“I’m not. I was just curious,” Seonghwa shrugged. It was true. Hongjoong could date whoever he wanted, and it was none of anyone’s business. Seonghwa wasn’t even sure why he’d asked that. He really wasn’t one to get caught up in his friend’s relationships. Maybe it was just to break the silence.

Hongjoong laughed. “We’re not dating.”

“But he just kissed you.”

“We’re just playing around. Yunho is crushing on Mingi big time.”

“What? Aren’t they always fighting? I thought they hated each other.”

Hongjoong laughed again. “You’re so clueless sometimes.”

“Clueless?” Seonghwa scoffed. “We still wouldn’t know that Wooyoung is held captive in the Ministry of Magic if it wasn’t for me and my wit!”

“I suppose that’s true,” Hongjoong chuckled, genuinely amused.

They fell silent for a moment.

“Actually, I was wondering…” Seonghwa started, “What is your motivation behind helping San find Wooyoung? I mean, Yeosang did tell me that you said you owe Wooyoung or something, but is that really all?”

Hongjoong tilted his head, smirking. “For the most part, yes, that is really all. But really, I also think it’s fun to fight the system every once in a while.”

Seonghwa simply nodded. He still wasn’t completely sure he believed that that was all there was to it. Hongjoong had always been somewhat mysterious and secretive, and Seonghwa was certain that he was hiding at least some of his motives.

“What about you? I know for a fact that you were close to none of those kids. And you’re also really not the rebellious type.”

“Hey. I’m close to… Yeosang,” Seonghwa said, exasperated.

“Close enough to risk the flawlessly clean record you’ve been working on your whole life?”

“There you go again, making me feel like I’m being interrogated for murder.”

“I’m not interrogating you,” Hongjoong replied and laughed melodically. “I was just curious as to what changed your mind so drastically. You love following rules and orders - much unlike me.”

Seonghwa scowled at those words and crossed his arms. “You’re making me sound so stuck up…”

Hongjoong laughed once more and Seonghwa couldn’t hold back a chuckle of his own.

After a few seconds, Seonghwa’s smile faded. Hongjoong was right. He really had been very used to following rules and taking orders mother without question. He still did in a way.

He remembered the things San had yelled at his face when Seonghwa had first spied on them. _Do you realize that your beloved authorities would pull the same shit if you were in Wooyoung’s position?_ San, too, was right. Seonghwa had truly believed that his mother would never do anything to hurt her students, and he now knew that he’d been very wrong about that.

“I just realized that it’s time to stop blindly following orders and start making my own decisions.”

Hongjoong nodded. “I was wondering when you’d realize that.”

“You’re acting like you knew all along!”

They laughed it off and Seonghwa was reminded of the time the two of them had been close friends in their first couple of years of Hogwarts. They had grown apart when Seonghwa had started to dive into his studies, too busy to hang out with anyone, really. He realized how much of a shame that was. It felt like he had wasted a lot of time pursuing the wrong goal.

“Why did we stop hanging out as much as we did?”

Hongjoong’s smile faded a little and he avoided Seonghwa’s eyes when he answered, “I… don’t know.”

Seonghwa furrowed his brows at the way Hongjoong’s mood had changed so drastically but decided not to question him about it. Instead, he finally started to properly focus on his studies while Hongjoong continued to read his book.

**Friday, December 2nd. 11:12PM. Ministry of Magic, Department of Mysteries, Office B. Jung Wooyoung.**

Wooyoung had spent his whole day working on an escape plan and waiting for a good opportunity to act on it. He didn’t have many options. The hope of San magically appearing to save him somehow had disappeared almost completely by now. Even if he had somehow received Wooyoung’s telepathic distress calls and interpreted them correctly, there was probably not much he could do for him. The Department of Mysteries was extremely secure and also extremely far away from Hogwarts. No, Wooyoung had to get out of here by himself and he had to do it as soon as possible.

Fortunately, luck seemed to be on his side today. Wooyoung didn’t know exactly what time it was, but not long after dinner, his guard’s duty was over, and Ilya was his replacement.

Ilya was exactly who Wooyoung needed to start Plan A.

Wooyoung tried not to show his excitement at this turn of events and proceeded to act bored and disinterested as the other guard left the room.

Ilya seemed to avoid Wooyoung’s eyes on purpose. He quietly took a seat by the door, doing his best to uphold his cold guard façade as he flipped through some kind of magazine.

Wooyoung waited a few minutes before to actually speaking up. He didn’t want to ruin his plan by acting rashly and made sure that the other guard was as far out of earshot as possible. He then got to his feet and stepped forward until he reached the cell bars to stand right across from Ilya.

“Guess what, I’m actually happy to see you here,” Wooyoung pouted. “The other guards are all so scary and yell at me as soon as I make a sound…”

He watched in amusement as Ilya tensed up the slightest bit. He’d probably hoped that Wooyoung would remain silent.

Not today, sir.

“I am only here because both Thomaj and Oliver are on coffee break. It is not like I chose to watch you again tonight,” Ilya grumbled.

“Come on, I’m not that bad. I just want somebody to talk to,” Wooyoung started, putting on his innocent and conversational tone again. “This could be a lot easier for both of us.”

Ilya sighed and anxiously glanced at the door as if afraid someone might hear them again. He then lowered his voice before saying, “Listen. I am still not supposed to be talking to you. No matter how hungry or bored you are this time, I will not help you.”

So much for that plan.

Wooyoung had really wished it wouldn’t have come this way, but it seemed like Plan B was his last and only option after all.

He pouted and pretended that Ilya’s words had upset him enough to shut him up. He returned to the back of his cell, acting downtrodden as he let his eyes scan the area accessible to him.

Wooyoung needed something small and discreet that was still sharp enough to do what he needed it to. His eyes eventually fell on a tiny piece of metal on the floor. He glanced over to Ilya whose focus was back on his magazine, probably relieved that Wooyoung had stopped trying to have a conversation with him.

Wooyoung took this opportunity to pick up the piece of metal to examine it further. It seemed to be a hair clip of some sort, maybe something one of the office workers had dropped there before the room had been refunctioned. It was just long enough to provide a good grip and sharp enough to qualify as the weapon Wooyoung needed.

Dreading the thought of what he had to do, Wooyoung decided to let a few more minutes of silence pass before taking action. When he felt the time was right – or at least as right as it was ever going to get – he closed his right hand around the hair clip tightly, bracing himself.

His heartbeat picked up in both nervousness and excitement at the thought of possibly getting out of here. He knew very well that he might get killed in the process. But he also knew he had to at least try. He had never been the type to go down without a fight and this was the time to make use of that.

Wooyoung took a deep breath and bit down on his lip before as he cut a line into the palm of his left hand. It was a lot more painful than expected. His hand was stinging with pain and warm blood started to pool in his palm. Wooyoung didn’t even have to fake the yelp of pain that escaped his lips as he dragged the sharp piece of metal across his skin.

Ilya perked up, surprised and alerted by the sudden noise. His eyes widened when he saw the blood spill from Wooyoung’s hand and run down his forearm as Wooyoung whined. It was an over-exaggerated act of course. The cut wasn’t nearly deep enough to be life-threatening, but he had to get Ilya’s attention somehow. He managed to hide the hair pin in the back pocket of his jeans before it could raise any suspicions.

“W-What happened?” asked Ilya, visibly unsure what to do. He had abandoned his magazine and risen to his feet.

“What do you think happened?! I cut myself on something” Wooyoung exclaimed, holding his hand and whining some more.

“Why would you do such a thing?!”

“It wasn’t on purpose! It’s not my fault the floor is so dirty!” Wooyoung stood up and got close to the bars, looking at Ilya with pleading eyes. “Can’t you do something about this?”

Ilya’s eyes widened. “Me? What am I, a doctor? What am I supposed to do about this?”

“Please, I don’t have my wand and I don’t want to get some kind of stupid infection because of this! Just take a look at it or give me a clean bandage or something!”

Ilya hesitated before he reluctantly came to the bars to take a look at Wooyoung’s injured hand. He then glanced up at him for a moment, his eyes half-concerned half-anxious as they met Wooyoung’s.

But that was all Wooyoung needed.

Of course he had no real idea what he was doing. He had obviously never tried to manipulate somebody with Legilimency before, but it was worth a try. It was the only shot he had at escaping.

Wooyoung stared back into Ilya’s eyes, gathering all of the magic and willpower he had in him to infiltrate his mind. Delving into Ilya’s mind was a lot easier than trying to connect with San’s as he was actually standing in front of him and looking into his eyes. He mentally pushed past Ilya’s emotions, thoughts and memories displayed in front of Wooyoung’s inner eye. Instead, he focused on bending his free will, convincing him to do what Wooyoung wanted him to do.

 _Open the cell,_ Wooyoung thought, trying his best not to think about how wrong it felt to be doing this to somebody.

Ilya furrowed his brows at those words, blinking in confusion but not moving an inch as he stared back at Wooyoung.

“But…” he mumbled, “but I cannot do that…”

 _Yes, you can. You have the keys. Use them to open the cell,_ Wooyoung thought.

Ilya blinked some more, trying to fight the power Wooyoung used against him, trying to fight the Legilimens Spell breaking down his free will.

“I… I am not supposed to… do that,” Ilya said slowly, his gray eyes turning glassy and empty.

 _Do it,_ Wooyoung thought, trying to put all of his magical force and conviction in those thoughts.

Ilya’s willpower was still trying to fight it, but Wooyoung felt that his Legilimency had worked when he reached for the keys and moved over to the lock of the cell.

Wooyoung didn’t like the feeling of controlling another person like this. He didn’t like the idea of breaking through somebody’s willpower, but his desperation and lack of options allowed him to ignore the uncomfortable tug he felt in his insides.

Next thing he knew, he heard the huge lock of his cell door click open. Ilya pushed it aside, allowing Wooyoung to hurry past him. He couldn’t believe it. He couldn’t believe that step one of his plan had truly worked.

Ilya’s eyes still looked glassy, indicating that the spell was still intact.

 _Give me your wand,_ Wooyoung thought, staring right into those empty eyes.

“I don’t have mine it with me,” Ilya responded.

Wooyoung’s heart sank. Getting out of here without a wand would prove even more difficult. _Then, um, give me some other weapon! Anything._

Ilya hesitated for a moment before turning around to the wooden chair he’d been sitting on just a few minutes ago. He then lifted it up and smashed it against the wall, successfully breaking off one of its long legs. His movements were so soulless and robotic it sent a shiver down Wooyoung’s spine.

Wooyoung had startled at the loud noise Ilya had caused but accepted the piece of wood from him anyway. This was no time to be picky and at least it was about as long as a baseball bat. It was better than nothing.

Wooyoung was about to turn to leave Office B when he turned around to Ilya. “I’m really sorry…” he whispered.

He couldn’t allow himself any further signs of guilt about what he’d done. He still had to get out of here as soon as possible.

Wooyoung’s healthy hand tightened around the long stick of wood as he tried to brace himself for the next step of the plan. Ilya would probably follow him or alert somebody as soon as Wooyoung lifted the Legilimens spell. He would have to run a lot and possibly hit any guards outside the door over the head with his mediocre weapon as soon as he’d set foot outside this room.

Once again, Wooyoung hated the idea of that, but for now, it was kill or be killed.

And with that, Wooyoung pushed the office door open and stormed outside. He found himself in the bright, hallway-like room with all the clocks in it, the one he remembered from being taken here. He’d hoped that there’d be no guards for some reason, but of course he didn’t get that lucky. He didn’t know or care about the one to his right, but he recognized the one on his left to be Professor Donovan.

Great.

Donovan’s cold features hardened when he saw Wooyoung speed past him, but he also didn’t hesitate to take action. He lunged forward at the speed of light and roughly grabbed Wooyoung’s left arm.

Wooyoung desperately tried to struggle against his grip, but Donovan was stronger than he’d anticipated. In all this panic, Wooyoung had almost forgotten the piece of wood in his hands. He gathered all of his might and swung at Donovan who now tried to dodge him.

Despite the struggle, Wooyoung had managed to hit his head with it, and the impact made Donovan growl in pain. His grip on Wooyoung’s arm still didn’t loosen though. Wooyoung quickly whacked him over the head again, a lot harder this time.

Donovan instinctively let go of Wooyoung’s arm, tumbling backwards and holding his head.

Wooyoung immediately made a run for it, sprinting down the long hallway towards the door at the end of it. He could hear Donovan and the other guard starting to run after him, so he sped up as much as he could.

Adrenaline mixed with a spark of newfound hope perked up inside of Wooyoung. Maybe that door was his way out. Maybe he could find some actual ministry workers that would help him out of here. But then again, what if it wasn’t? He sure as hell wasn’t going to make it past Donovan and the other guards again.

Despite the pain forming in Wooyoung’s thighs from running so hard after sitting around for days, Wooyoung didn’t dare slow down.

When he finally reached the door, he pushed through it with such force that he all but stumbled into the next room, blinking a few times as his eyes adjusted to his now much darker surroundings. He hastily looked around himself, out of breath and shaking with adrenaline, he soon realized that he was trapped. He was surrounded by dozens of doors leading Merlin-knows-where.

What now? Which door led to the exit? He didn’t have time to try all of them! Donovan and the other guard would catch up to him any second.

Wooyoung started to panic. It was a dead end. A dead end. Should he just try any door? What if it only led deeper into the Department of Mysteries? What if it led to more of the New Lord’s people? Should he try to hit Donovan with the stick enough times to knock him out? But what about the other guy?

“Where the fuck is the exit?” he said to himself as he frantically paced from side to side, trying to make a fast decision. None of his options sounded very promising.

That’s when a door to his left suddenly sprang open, as if the door had listened to his desperate request.

But Wooyoung had hesitated for too long. He was just about to make a run for the door that had presented itself to him when he heard his two followers barge through the door behind him. For the lack of a better solution, Wooyoung didn’t look behind, sprinted toward the exit and -

“ _Crucio!_ ”

A pain so intense he would’ve never imagined possible took over Wooyoung’s body. It was a type of pain he had never felt before, a pain that words couldn’t even begin to describe. It was like somebody drove burning hot knives through every part of his body and it consumed all of his senses. He heard himself scream as he stumbled and fell to the hard floor. His vision was blurred by stars dancing in front of his eyes as he heard the walls reflect his own screams of pain.

When the burning pain finally stopped and Wooyoung regained his senses, he felt somebody grab his hair and tried his best to fight against them dragging him back to where he’d come from. He struggled as hard as he possibly could, but it was no use. His limbs were still aching terribly, and Donovan was a lot stronger than him.

Next thing he knew he was dropped to the floor of Office B like a sack of flour. A bunch of guards immediately rushed forward to hold him down as he watched Donovan glare down at him. Wooyoung wanted to throw all kinds of curses at him, but all he could do was kick and scream helplessly.

Professor Donovan got out his wand and let the cell bars that had previously split the room in half disappear. Wooyoung was pushed into the chair someone had placed behind him and held in place by a guard he couldn’t see.

Fear took over all of Wooyoung’s senses. He hadn’t expected his plan to end this way and he couldn’t help but wonder what they were going to do to him.

Blood was still streaming from Donovan’s hairline down his face because of the injury Wooyoung had given him a while ago. It seemed to only fuel his anger and his expression looked almost animalistic as he ordered two other guards to tie Wooyoung to the chair.

“ _Brachiabindo_ ,” one of them said and Wooyoung felt the invisible strings tightly wrap around his wrists, torso and ankles, trapping him in this chair for good.

He desperately struggled against them, but it was no use. He wasn’t going to be able to free himself from these enchanted strings. “Let me go, you – ”

Wooyoung’s words were cut off when Donovan put a strong hand around his throat. He had no choice but to look up into his furious face as he felt his body complain about the sudden lack of oxygen.

“The New Lord’s orders don’t allow me to kill you,” Donovan said through gritted teeth, his grip around Wooyoung’s throat tightening, making him desperately gasp for air, “but they do allow me to make sure you wish I would.”

Still gasping, Wooyoung was starting to get lightheaded, but Donovan mercilessly continued to choke him. Was this it? Was he going to get choked to death by his insane Divination professor?

“Somebody needs to show you that you have no choice but to cooperate. I’ll make sure you’ll regret your pathetic little escape attempt for the rest of the few days you have left to live,” Donovan continued and Wooyoung’s lungs were screaming for air.

He finally let go of Wooyoung’s throat just as he was about to pass out, but things didn’t end there.

“Useless half-breed,” Donovan spat and forcefully kicked Wooyoung’s shin before pushing at his shoulders until his chair tipped over, causing him to fall to the ground, still restricted by those magical strings.

Wooyoung was wheezing and struggling for breath at the same time, his eyes burning with tears, but of course Donovan couldn’t care less.

He kicked Wooyoung in the stomach, his sides, his back, over and over. He kicked him so many times Wooyoung lost count.

His throat burned too much to be able to beg him to stop and he was pretty sure that guy wouldn’t listen to him anyway. He was still gasping for air and coughing at the same time until at some point, everything went black.


	8. Saturday, December 3rd

**S** **aturday, December 3rd. 12:45AM. Hogwarts, Slytherin Dorms. Choi San.**

Wide awake, San stared up into the darkness above him as he listened to his dormmates’ slow breaths and quiet snores. He’d been waiting for Mingi to fall asleep so he could finally steal back the time turner. It was almost one in the morning when San decided to push aside his sheets and climbed out of bed.

Mingi’s bed was right next to his, so it only took him a few steps to get there. He soundlessly peeked at his best friend’s peaceful face. He was fast asleep, just as expected.

San grinned to himself mischievously as he crouched down, careful not to make a sound. He inspected the nightstand beside Mingi’s bed, looking for the golden device. San’s grin widened in triumph when he found it in the very first drawer he opened.

He was just about to tiptoe back to his own bed when a hand around his wrist pulled him back. San yelped in surprise at the sudden attack and turned around. Mingi’s arm had shot forward to stop him from escaping and San had gotten so startled that Mingi was able to the time turner from his hands with ease.

“I knew you were going to do this!” Mingi scolded in a whisper-yell as he sat up on his bed.

San scowled and pulled his wrist out of Mingi’s grip before crossing his arms over his chest. “I wouldn’t have had to do it if you hadn’t taken it from me in the first place! Just, please give it back!” he whisper-yelled back.

Mingi rose to his feet. “No! I told you, it’s not good for you!”

After another minute of squabbling, they decided to move their discussion downstairs in order not to wake the others.

“I just need to see him…” San said as they stepped into the dimly lit common room.

The golden light coming from the fireplace bathed the whole room in a warm glow.

He turned around to face Mingi who had followed close behind him, a tired but serious expression on his face. There was no trace of his usual goofy and playful self.

“I know, man. I really do get it. But I don’t want you to get hurt,” he said, “I can tell how much it messes with you.”

San looked away. “I don’t know what you mean…” he lied.

Mingi sighed and stepped closer to him, taking his hand. “The guilt. I’m talking about the guilt. You think it’s your fault that they took him,” he replied knowingly. “But that’s just not true. It’s not any of our faults. And even if it was, that’s not what important right now. What’s important right now is that we get him out of there. Which we will.”

San avoided his eyes.

His best friend knew him too damn well.

Tears threatened to form in San’s eyes. “I need to see him,” he repeated stubbornly.

Mingi seemed to contemplate his next words for a moment. He glanced at the time turner in his hands and bit his lip in thought before sighing, “Alright, alright.”

San’s head perked up in surprise.

“But only under two conditions,” Mingi added.

“Yeah?”

“One, I’m coming with you. I don’t wanna leave you alone with this.”

“Fine. What else?”

“Two, we’re going back to something very recent. We can’t be roaming around a bunch of jolly memories. If we observe the people who took him, maybe we can even get some useful information.”

San felt uneasy about the idea of seeing Wooyoung captured again. Of course he knew that Mingi was right, but that didn’t ease his fear one bit. “Fine. You’re right. Let’s be smart about this,” he decided.

Mingi showed a sympathetic smile before putting the time turners’ golden necklace around the two of them. He then checked the time on the old clock next to the fireplace. It was five past one in the morning. He nodded to himself, probably deciding on a good time to travel back to.

“Okay,” he said and looked at the time turner. “Take us to the Ministry of Magic, Department of Mysteries, Office B. December 2nd, 2016, 11:30PM.”

The familiar feeling of falling took over San as time reversed, and the surroundings around them changed. He closed his eyes and waited for it to end. He couldn’t help but notice how used his body had gotten to the process of traveling through time. His insides still felt like they were being squeezed together every time, but it didn’t affect him as much as it had the first few times.

When time finally returned to normal and Office B had come to be around them however, things went south very quickly.

San couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw the empty cell.

“Hold on, where is he?” he asked uneasily.

“Maybe… Maybe they took him somewhere else?” Mingi suggested, looking just as dumbstruck and concerned as San felt. “But why would they – ”

His sentence was cut short when the door behind them sprang open. San’s jaw dropped as he watched the scene unfold in front of him.

Two men were dragging a kicking and screaming Wooyoung into the room, closely followed by a third man. A very angry and bloody man. Something told San that he'd seen him before somewhere, but he couldn't make out his face well enough to recognize him.

The man swung his wand and let the bars that split the room in two halves disappear.

“What the fuck is happening?” asked San, bewildered to say the least as he watched those men tie Wooyoung to a chair with magically summoned strings.

“ _Let me go, you –_ ” Wooyoung yelled at the familiar man, who then put a hand around his throat and started to choke him.

San reacted immediately and wanted to leap forward to stop him, but Mingi held him back. He tried to free himself from his best friend’s grip, but Mingi was once again stronger than him.

Mingi then half dragged half carried San out the door just as the man started to threaten Wooyoung who was struggling to breathe. San tried to fight Mingi off, yelling and kicking.

“What the hell are you doing?! Let me go! We…We need to do something!” San exclaimed as Mingi kept him pressed against the wall outside to prevent him from running back inside.

“ _Somebody needs to show you that you have no choice but to cooperate. I’ll make sure your pathetic little escape attempt for the rest of the few days you have left to live,”_ San heard the man growl over Wooyoung’s strangled gasps and coughs.

Judging by the coughing that followed those words, the man had finally let go of Wooyoung’s throat, but those soon turned into screams of pain and protest.

“San, stop it! We can’t help him right now!” Mingi yelled and struggled to hold him back but San couldn’t care less. He could barely even hear him. All he heard were the sounds of Wooyoung’s pained yelps and cries along with the man's insults. He was coughing, crying, screaming, begging for him to stop.

“But he… they… we have to do something…” San mumbled desperately. His imagination was doing the worst things to his mind. He didn’t know how exactly the man was hurting Wooyoung, but it sounded like he was beating and kicking him countless times. Every kick made San wince, his senses overflowing with fear and worry. How far was that man going to go? How was any of this happening? How was any of this real?

He wanted to push Mingi away, told him to fuck off, yelled at him to let the fuck go of him… but it was no use.

He stopped struggling against Mingi and let his body slide downwards until he sad there, leaned against the wall, shaking and covering his ears. Wooyoung’s screams had died down and all that was left was an eerie silence. San felt warm tears run down his cheeks. Had Wooyoung passed out? Was he dead? Had that man beaten him to death? More tears.

San had never wished for the time turner to get him back to the present as much as this. This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be real. When would he finally wake up from this never-ending nightmare?

San was so out of it that he barely noticed another tall and slender man walk by them to enter Office B. San didn't need to know who he was to tell that he was the leader. Judging by the way everyone bowed down to him as he entered the room, he must have been that infamous New Lord Stephan had told Wooyoung about.

The horror was still fresh and pulsing through San’s veins but seeing the man who had initiated this whole situation caused something deep inside of him to wake up. It was a feeling of burning hatred and anger stronger than anything San had ever felt before.

He leaned to the side to peek further into that room, glaring holes into both the violent man and the New Lord’s backs.

San had never felt the need to murder anyone, but the feeling cooking up inside of him right now came dangerously close to it.

The man had pulled out his wand and was now pointing it at Wooyoung, ready to hurt him even more.

“Enough. We will have plenty of time for torture when it is needed,” the New Lord said. The casual amusement and sarcasm in his voice made San even more furious.

The violent man didn’t lower his wand. His cruel eyes were still fixed on Wooyoung’s unconscious body. “He tried to escape, Vas. He needs to learn his lesson,” he bit out.

The New Lord put a gentle hand on his arm. “Look at him. I am sure he has learned it.”

Silence settled over them as both as they looked at Wooyoung. San’s heart clenched up when he looked at him. He was on the ground, still tied to his chair, his hair all over the place and his beautiful face full of bruises and scratches. There was a cut in his lip and his nose was bleeding as well. His once clean and soft looking purple shirt was full of dirty footprints.

There was nothing San could do. All he could do was look at him from afar, his insides scrunching up at the sight.

He didn’t know what that man said in response. He and Mingi had been dragged back to the present, back to the safety of the Slytherin Common Room in what felt like the blink of an eye.

They were still on the floor, in the middle of the room, shocked and disturbed by whatever that had just been. A few tears were still silently running down San’s face and he allowed Mingi to pull him into his arms.

San didn’t know how much time passed before Mingi managed to calm him down a little. He was still in a slight daze when they went back up the stairs leading to their dorm room. Neither of them said a word as Mingi followed San into his bed to lie down next to him.

Of course neither of them fell asleep. They simply lay there, their arms wrapped around each other in silence.

The image of Wooyoung curling up in pain and begging that man to stop just wouldn’t disappear.

Mingi had been right. While San had been re-witnessing cheerful memories with Wooyoung and trying to distract himself from the reality of Wooyoung being captured, Wooyoung had tried to escape and failed. He was beaten and tortured and probably living in constant fear of getting killed.

The feeling of guilt was threatening to consume San. The fact that he was just lying there in the safety of his bed, doing nothing to help Wooyoung suffocated him.

San was going to make those people pay. Even if it was the last thing he was ever going to do.

**Saturday, December 3rd. 04:42AM. Hogwarts, Hufflepuff Dorms. Jeong Yunho.**

Yunho lay awake. Once again, his head just wouldn’t allow him to catch any sleep that lasted for longer than four hours. It had been like this almost every night for a long time now, but it had gotten so much worse over the last few days.

It didn’t even help that Hongjoong was by his side tonight, sleeping comfortably with one arm wrapped around Yunho’s torso and his head resting on Yunho’s chest. He was adorable as ever, and the sight of his tiny figure pressed against him brought a smile to Yunho’s lips.

Yunho sighed quietly. Why couldn’t he just be in love with Hongjoong? That would make his life a whole lot easier.

Not only was Hongjoong a great kisser, he was charming, funny, cute, provocative, and despite his habit of keeping secrets and never talking about personal things, he was fun to be around, easy to talk to. He was always on the same page as Yunho. He didn’t start arguments with him. He didn't make things complicated.

But he also didn’t make Yunho’s heart flutter, at least not the way Mingi did.

Mingi’s kisses felt so entirely different from Hongjoong’s. Hongjoong’s kisses were fun and felt nice, especially when Yunho just needed some affection, but Mingi’s kisses caused so much more in him. His kisses were hot and passionate, full of emotion. Sure, Yunho had been either angry or drunk or both whenever they had kissed so far, but it had been more than just his anger that had fueled those heated kisses.

All the butterflies Yunho had worked so hard to ignore after he’d gotten rejected by him, came forth every time Mingi kissed him. It left Yunho questioning everything. It gave him the feeling that he could forget about all the bad things that had happened between them, that they could be more, that they still had a chance of making things work.

Mingi confused him like this every time he was in the middle of trying to move on. Every single time, Mingi pulled him right back in with his stupid full lips and his stupid big and warm hands and his stupid adorable smile. Yunho had no idea whether it was intentional or whether it had all just been a mix of fateful timing and coincidence.

Or maybe everything between them was just Yunho’s mind playing tricks on him and showing him what he wanted to see. A mere illusion that Yunho only wished to be reality.

Yunho knew by now that it was partly his fault. He’d overreacted after Mingi had rejected him last year. Yunho had been beyond embarrassed back then but now that he thought about it, he probably shouldn’t have shut Mingi out the way he had. He shouldn’t have yelled at him for telling the truth, even if that truth was that he didn’t like Yunho the same way. And he shouldn’t have stormed off into some other guy’s arms either…

Well, to be fair, it wasn’t like Yunho had thrown himself at anyone and he never really was interested in anyone other than Mingi after that incident. But when Kim Gunhak had asked him out on a date the day after the confession, Yunho had been in such an insecure state that he’d spontaneously decided to say yes and dating around had soon become his way of regaining his confidence. It had been the only way he was able to feel wanted again.

Mingi had made an effort to become friends with Yunho again after a while, but Yunho had still been too embarrassed and upset to talk to him.

Even now, Yunho still kept up his disinterested persona around Mingi and it was one of Yunho’s biggest regrets. Whenever they got even remotely close to at least being friends again, Yunho ended up ruining it by teasing him and making comments about him being a virgin.

Of course he didn’t actually care about Mingi being a virgin. Hell, he even found it kind of cute that Mingi was so unexperienced in that field. It was just fun to get a rise out of him and have his attention, even if it was negative attention. It was ridiculous and Yunho knew it, but he also couldn’t help it.

Mingi was such an idiot.

Yunho huffed to himself in frustration. His eyes wandered around the dimly lit room that was only illuminated by the warm copper lamps hanging on the wall. He then looked down at Hongjoong who was breathing calmly, a content expression on his face even in his sleep. Yunho put an arm around him and stared back up at the ceiling. He remembered the conversation he’d had with San the yesterday.

_Both of you are idiots. You both like each other so much and yet, you can’t seem to make it work… He’s just extremely jealous._

Yunho’s face heated up involuntarily. San thought that their feelings were mutual.

Had that been true at all? Was Mingi truly jealous of Hongjoong? Yunho still had no idea how to feel about that and a weird feeling arose in him at the thought.

When Hongjoong had first suggested the idea of pretending to date in order to make Mingi jealous, Yunho had only agreed to it because it had sounded exciting and he’d believed that it wasn’t going to work anyway. After that, he and Hongjoong had simply gotten used to having a lot of skinship and being comfortable touching and kissing each other without any consequences.

Still, it was a strange situation that Yunho had no idea how to get out of.

Lazy movement from Hongjoong pulled Yunho out of his thoughts. Hongjoong was stretching his arms like a cat before relaxing again, letting out a tired groan. His eyes were still closed, and he seemed to go right back to sleep, cutely nuzzling his face into Yunho’s chest.

Yunho gently patted his friend’s hair. Hongjoong perked up at the touch and moved his head to look up at Yunho in the darkness.

“You’re awake again?” Hongjoong asked in a tired whisper.

Yunho hummed affirmatively. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” he whispered back.

“What time is it?”

“Around five.”

Hongjoong groaned. “Mingi should be jailed for keeping you up this late.”

“I know, right? Mingi’s such an idiot.”

“And yet, you love him,” Hongjoong chuckled.

Yunho pouted. “Shut up. You should go back to sleep.”

“Whatever you say, handsome.”

**Saturday, December 3rd. 07:12AM. Hogwarts, Great Hall. Choi Jongho.**

Despite his fallout with Yeosang yesterday, Jongho’s day had started out pretty well. He woke up early, washed up and headed down to the Great Hall to have breakfast.

His hands reached for the eggs and bacon almost automatically and he’d already gotten invested in the Daily Prophet’s headline about some intense Gobstone tournament leading to five casualties, when somebody took a seat across from him.

Jongho moved his newspaper aside and almost spilled his drink when he saw that it was Yeosang.

He instantly felt a wave of regret and guilt wash over him. He had spent a lot of time thinking about their conversation from yesterday evening, even hours after Yeosang had left his dorm. Sure, Yeosang had been the one to kiss him first, but Jongho now felt like he should’ve made his intentions clearer. He should’ve just told Yeosang that he liked him, that he’d been falling for him more and more every day since the night of the party. He should’ve said something instead of just kissing him back.

And he especially shouldn’t have tried to take Yeosang’s clothes off when they’d been kissing in the dorms. They weren’t even dating! It was no wonder Yeosang had reacted the way he did. The memory of that alone made Jongho want to slap himself for thinking with his dick.

Yeosang looked guilty as well, nervously fidgeting around in his seat. After a few seconds of awkward silence, he reached for some food to fill his plate with. His choice was apple pie and cinnamon rolls.

Jongho desperately tried to think of something to say to break this awkward silence between them but his mind was blank.

Yeosang seemed to feel the same way, judging by the way he looked like he was heavily contemplating his next words.

“How much do you know about cats?” he asked eventually.

Jongho blinked, taken aback by the sheer randomness of this question. “Well, I’ve been taking care of Wooyoung’s cat for almost a week now, so ask me anything, I guess.”

“Imagine this,” Yeosang started, “So there’s this one cat who’s really stressed and worried because he lost… something… and because he’s so worked up and confused about the whole situation he’s in that he really appreciated this other cat who… was there for him. Everything was all fine and dandy until at some point, the first cat started to feel some type of way around the other cat and things started to get even more confusing and complicated, so the first cat said some stupid things to the other cat even though the other cat didn’t do anything wrong but the first was so overwhelmed with everything that was happening that he panicked and… and…”

Jongho couldn’t suppress a chuckle at his rambling. “Yeosang. What are you trying to say?”

Yeosang’s cheeks once again took on a light shade of pink as he sighed in defeat. “Look, I’m sorry I just left like that yesterday,” he said, looking down at his hands playing around with his fork. “I just…”

Jongho gave him a smile. “It’s okay. I’m not mad at you or anything if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Yeosang blinked in surprise. “You’re not? If I’d known that it was going to be this easy, I wouldn’t have stayed up all night thinking of what to say...”

“You stayed up all night and the best thing you came up with was a cat analogy?” asked Jongho, laughing.

This time Yeosang had to laugh as well. “Don’t make fun of me! I worked really hard on that, okay?”

Jongho reached across the table and took one of Yeosang’s hands in his. “Okay, why don’t we try this again?” he suggested. “Without cats this time.”

Yeosang’s expression turned a little sad when he looked at Jongho’s hand holding his. “Listen… you’re amazing and I really love spending time with you, but…”

‘But’? Jongho’s heart dropped. He had the odd feeling that he was about to be friend-zoned out of existence.

“I just can’t do this. Not right now at least,” Yeosang said, still looking down at their hands. “I need to make sure Wooyoung is safe before I can allow myself to think about anything – or anyone – else… I’m sorry…”

Jongho hesitated for a second before squeezing Yeosang’s hand. “No, you don’t have to apologize. I get it. It’s me who should be sorry. I didn’t mean to make you rush into something you don’t want.”

Yeosang’s eyes widened and he shook his head. “That’s not – ”

“Mr. Choi? I will have to ask you to follow me.”

The voice that had just interrupted Yeosang mid-sentence belonged to Professor Robinson, the Quidditch teacher. She regarded Jongho with such disappointment that he furrowed his eyebrows, trying to remember whether he’d done anything illegal lately and forgotten about it.

“What is it, professor?” asked Jongho. There was no Quidditch practice today, so he really had no idea what she could want from him this early in the morning.

But what confused him even more was the fact that she had Yunho with her as well.

Yunho gave him an uneasy look, and it suddenly started to dawn on him.

“It has been brought to my attention that you and Mr. Jeong here have stolen five of the school’s broomsticks. The leader of the Gobstone club has seen you smuggle them into the castle. That is absolutely unacceptable!” she said, sounding genuinely disappointed. “I have no choice but to give you detention. You will clean all the cauldrons in the Potions classrooms right this instant. Without using any magic, that is.”

“Yes, professor,” Jongho replied in defeat. There was no way he could convince her that they hadn’t done it, so there was no point in denying it now.

He let go of Yeosang’s hand and got to his feet, giving him a reassuring smile.

“Make sure to tell the others, alright?” he told Yeosang, earning a worried nod from him before he had to follow Professor Robinson out of the Great Hall. On their way out, he exchanged glances with Yunho and sighed to himself. This wasn’t how he had pictured his Saturday morning at all.

**Saturday, December 3rd. 09:00AM. Hogwarts, Former Defense Against the Dark Arts Classroom. Choi San.**

Mingi hadn’t left San’s side once today. He’d been the one to pull San out of bed with him before dragging him down to the Great Hall to coax some food into him. The whole time he kept a worried eye on San as if scared that he could break down at any given moment.

San appreciated his concern but assured him that he was okay. Of course, he wasn’t okay. He was exhausted and he was so tired that his eyes threatened to fall shut multiple times, even while he was walking. It was a strange feeling, but San tried his best to shake that feeling out of his head by the time they entered the former Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom for practice with the others.

It was early for practice, they’d usually started around noon, but since they were planning to infiltrate the ministry tomorrow, everyone had agreed to use their class-free Saturday morning to rehearse as many spells as they possibly could.

Seonghwa and Hongjoong had been the first ones to be there, soon followed by San and Mingi. Yeosang showed up last.

“Where’s your Prince Charming?” Hongjoong teased Yeosang as soon as he came through the door, “I thought you two were a buy-one-get-one-for-free deal.”

Mingi chuckled at that, which earned him a glare from Yeosang. San felt the laughter vibrate in Mingi’s chest as he was leaning back against him comfortably, Mingi’s chin resting on his shoulder.

“Very funny,” said Yeosang as he took a seat on the wooden floor with them, “but he and Yunho aren’t coming.”

San furrowed his brows at him. “What do you mean they aren’t coming?”

Yeosang gave him an apologetic look. “Detention. Apparently, some members of the Gobstone Club saw the two of them smuggle the stolen broomsticks into the castle last Thursday and told Professor Robinson about it this morning. She was furious. They’ll be busy cleaning all the Cauldrons in the Potions classrooms without magic until late in the afternoon at best.”

“Man, seriously? I thought she was cool,” Mingi pouted, sounding exasperated.

“I’m assuming she has the brooms back by now as well…” said Seonghwa. “How are we going to get to London tomorrow then?”

A silence followed his words and San’s head was spinning.

Everything was going wrong. The plan they had been working on so hard over the last few days was falling apart in front of his eyes. The image of Wooyoung getting tortured came back to him full force and so did the guilt.

“We should’ve just gone there right away.”

Everyone turned to San at those words. He’d said it absent-mindedly, not really intending for anyone to hear him. It hadn’t even sounded like his own voice, so cold and distant.

He met their surprised eyes with irritation. “What? Am I wrong? We’ve spent all this time preparing for a fight but how does that help Wooyoung at all? Those people are out there right now doing Merlin-knows-what to him and we’re sitting here practicing spells. What good are those spells going to do when we’re too late?” San asked bitterly.

“And what good would it have done if we’d just ran in there as soon as we found out and gotten ourselves killed?” Mingi pointed out. He sounded calmer than he usually would have, and San suspected that he was still holding back because of what had happened last night.

“He’s right,” agreed Seonghwa. “We’re the only ones who are actually aware of what is happening. We’re the only ones who can help him. If we die in there it’s not just over for us, it’s also over for Wooyoung.”

San gave him a glare. Did they seriously not realize that time was running out? While they sat here on the classroom floor having a chit chat, Wooyoung might be getting beaten by that guy again. Or worse. Was San really the only one who truly realized the seriousness of the situation?

He was about to retort something when Yeosang cut him off. “Anyway, until we find another way to get there, we can’t do anything anyway. Why don’t we just think about that first before we get into a useless fight. There has to be another way for us to get to London.”

“Brooms were the fastest option, but we don’t have enough now,” said Mingi.

Mingi and Jongho were the only ones who were allowed to keep their own brooms as they were part of their houses’ Quidditch teams.

“Technically we could also get ahold of Wooyoung’s broom. I think he keeps it under his bed, but that still only makes three brooms for seven people,” Yeosang thought out loud.

Seonghwa hummed in thought. “Can’t two of us just use one broom together?”

“That’s too dangerous. And it would still leave one of us out,” Yeosang replied.

Another moment of silence passed before Seonghwa made the next suggestion. “Harry Potter and his friends got there on Testrals in 1996 but I don’t think there are any left in the Forbidden Forest…”

“Is there really no way to find any?” asked Mingi.

“There’s one more option,” Hongjoong spoke up for the first time over the last twenty minutes. He’d been examining the floor plan San and Seonghwa had drawn of the Department of Mysteries, most likely contemplating his next words while the others had been discussing. “I didn’t think we’d have to resort to this, but it seems like we don’t have much of a choice...”

“What is it?” Yeosang questioned. “Any idea where we can find Testrals?”

“No, we don’t need to find Testrals,” Hongjoong said, turning to Yeosang. “We can use me. I’m... an Animagus.”

Their jaws dropped. As far as San knew, the process of becoming an Animagus was beyond complicated. Being an unregistered one had been illegal for decades, and something told San that Hongjoong wasn’t the type to follow rules and register with the ministry.

None of them had expected anything like that, but Seonghwa seemed by far the most surprised. He furrowed his brows and gave him a bewildered look. “You’re a _what_?”

Hongjoong shrugged, showing his confident grin. “You heard correctly.”

“For real?” asked Yeosang, sounding impressed.

Mingi narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “But what kind of Animagus are you? A horseback ride to London might take us a little too long, you know.”

Hongjoong only showed his cocky grin. “Do you really think I’d suggest something that inefficient? No, I’m a dragon.”

“A _dragon_?” asked San.

“Yes, a dragon,” Hongjoong confirmed, as if it was the most normal thing ever.

“That’s actually perfect,” Yeosang grinned excitedly. “Three of us can use brooms, Hongjoong can fly and the other three can hold onto him or something!”

“Sounds like a plan,” Hongjoong replied with his signature smirk.

Even Mingi seemed impressed. “That is actually pretty fucking cool.”

“Then how about we go today?” San suggested.

Seonghwa regarded him skeptically. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. It’s just too risky. We’re still too unprepared and Jongho and Yunho aren’t even here. I think we should just stick to the plan and go tomorrow night.”

San looked around, hoping that any of the others would be on his page, but he was disappointed. They all seemed to agree with Seonghwa.

San pursed his lips and nodded slowly. “Fine. Let’s stick to the plan, then.”

It was better to just pretend to agree with them for now to avoid further conflict. He could already feel their pity for him radiating from them. San looked away, not wanting to see their sympathetic faces right now.

“Alright. Let’s get started then. We have a lot to do today,” Hongjoong smiled and pulled out his wand as he got to his feet. He surprised everyone when he asked them to pair up and duel each other in front of the others.

They did as they were told however, and a quick game of rock-paper-scissors appointed Mingi and Yeosang as the pair to go first.

The two of them got into position about twenty feet away from each other and pointed their wands at each other, ready for Hongjoong’s next instructions.

“The rules are simple. You can use whatever spell comes to mind, just try not to injure each other. Whoever is responsible for the finishing strike wins,” he explained.

Mingi and Yeosang nodded and waited for Hongjoong to give them the signal.

When he did, San could barely tell what exactly was going on with the different jets of light coming from both of their wands simultaneously. Judging by the way Yeosang’s wand slipped out of his hand and flung across the room, Mingi had managed to wordlessly disarm him while dodging whatever spell Yeosang had sent after him.

After that, it was easy for Mingi to cast a _Petrificus Totalus_ spell on him to mark his win. Yeosang’s arms and legs snapped together, causing him to fall flat on his back.

San grinned proudly as he and Seonghwa applauded. He knew that Mingi had spent a lot of time practicing by himself and was glad to see his efforts pay off.

Mingi immediately went to lift the curse and helped Yeosang back to his feet. He apologized for causing him to fall, but Yeosang only chuckled and waved off.

“Not bad, not bad. That’s what I call improvement,” Hongjoong smiled and patted Mingi’s shoulder. “Next.”

San and Seonghwa rose from their seats on the floor and got into the same position as Mingi and Yeosang had only two minutes before.

Seonghwa was the first to fire a Stunning Spell at San, who managed to deflect it with a flick of his wand just in time. He went for another attack, but San deflected it again before firing back an attack of his own. Seonghwa barely dodged it and lost his balance in the process, which allowed San to follow up with a Knockback Jinx that caused Seonghwa to fly back a few feet before landing on his back.

The others clapped in acknowledgement as San jogged over to help Seonghwa back to his feet.

“Nice match,” said Hongjoong with a smirk. “All of you used the spells we’ve learned so far really well.”

He spent the next hour giving each one of them tips on how to do even better, before moving on to teaching them how to use regular spells that they’ve already learned in class in battle. He mentioned how a spell as simple as _Wingardium Leviosa_ would allow them to lift something up just to drop it on an opponent and how _Incendio_ could bring a wall of fire between them and the attacker, giving them an opportunity to escape.

He let them practice using the repertoire of spells they knew on each other for another hour before challenging each one of them all to fight none other than himself.

“I’ll let whoever wins know the password to the prefects’ bathroom,” Hongjoong grinned.

“What about me? I already know the password!” Seonghwa protested. “And we’re not supposed to leak it anyway.”

Hongjoong put an arm around him. “It’ll be fine, pretty boy” he laughed, “We’re a team after all and I’ll only tell one person. And if you win, I’ll get you a pass to the restricted section of the library.” 

Seonghwa showed him a content smirk. “That’s more like it.”

“Great,” Hongjoong smirked back before turning to the others. “Now that that’s settled, who wants to go first?”

To everyone’s surprise, Yeosang was the first to raise his hand. Hongjoong looked pleased and gestured for Yeosang to get into position. They didn’t waste any time getting started as soon as the others gave them the signal.

Hongjoong was first to attack, but Yeosang successfully blocked his spell with _Protego_. Yeosang was doing pretty well as he casted most of his spells wordlessly and in a fast pace. He knocked Hongjoong back and almost won the battle until he hesitated with his finishing strike, probably worried about actually hurting him. Hongjoong took this opportunity to catch Yeosang off guard and disarmed him.

“Don’t hesitate,” Hongjoong advised. “You don’t have to kill your opponent, but you do have to do something to make sure to at least knock them out so they can’t overpower you.”

Yeosang nodded and sat back down on the floor between San and Seonghwa.

Mingi was next. He went right into the offensive, but Hongjoong skillfully blocked all of his spells. He then surprised Mingi with a Disarming Charm, but Mingi managed to catch his own wand before it could fly from his hands.

He was doing so well that Hongjoong had to actually try hard to fight him.

They then both fired their spells at the same time – Mingi using _Stupefy_ and Hongjoong using _Flipendo_. They both fell backwards and had to get back to their feet first. Hongjoong was a little bit faster and managed to disarm Mingi first, marking his win. Nevertheless, Mingi smiled confidently when Hongjoong praised him for putting up such a good fight.

Seonghwa also did quite well with his spells, except for the fact that Hongjoong blocked all of them with ease. When Seonghwa finally managed to hit him with _Flipendo,_ Hongjoong fired a _Petrificus Totalus_ as he stumbled backwards, causing Seonghwa to lose.

And with that, San was the last one to challenge Hongjoong. Just like with Yeosang, Hongjoong attacked him first with _Stupefy_ , but San easily blocked that before firing back with _Flipendo_ which Hongjoong blocked as well.

They went back and forth like this for several minutes, but San was to eager to find out the password to the prefects’ bathroom to lose now. He had to think of something else, something that Hongjoong didn’t expect. He remembered the things Hongjoong had taught them about finding a way to use regular spells to their advantage in battle.

San smirked to himself as one particular spell came to mind. He’d just deflected Hongjoong’s _Petrificus Totalus_ by using _Protego,_ before wordlessly casting the _Aguamenti_ Spell they had learned in Charms yesterday.

A huge jet of water shot from San’s wand, effectively surprising Hongjoong as he got hit by a wall of water. He was distracted enough for San to cast another _Stupefy_ , earning him his creative win.

San was just about to celebrate his win when he noticed that the door had been opened. The head of Yoon Sanha, a Gryffindor prefect from the fifth year peeked inside. He was a tall, brown haired guy with a neat haircut and the obedient attitude that so many prefects were expected to have around this castle. San didn’t know him too well, but he’d seen him around from time to time. His expression filled with reverence when his eyes fell on Hongjoong.

“I heard noises, so I decided to check who was in here. What are you doing in here?” Sanha asked.

“Studying,” said Yeosang with a shrug as San helped Hongjoong in his soaked robes get back to his feet.

Sanha raised his eyebrows. “Doesn’t really look like studying to me,” he said suspiciously.

Hongjoong shrugged as he and San wrung out his robes.

“What’s it to you?” Mingi chimed in. “What we do in here is none of your business.”

Sanha narrowed his eyes at him before he saw San. His eyes widened for a moment when he recognized him.

“Can you leave? We don’t have time to play with you,” San said drily. He couldn’t be bothered to care if it was rude. Not today.

“Whatever,” said Sanha before leaving the room and closing the door behind himself.

Mingi scoffed. “What the hell was that about?”

“No idea,” replied Yeosang.

They then returned to practicing again after Hongjoong had told San the password to the prefects’ bathroom as promised. Everything went well as they all practiced with more vigor and determination than ever. They had almost forgotten about the incident with Sanha when the door suddenly burst open once more as he stormed in, accompanied by none other than Professor Snippet.

“There they are, professor!” said Sanha, unnecessarily pointing at them.

Professor Snippet gave an exasperated gasp as if he couldn’t believe his eyes. “It is prohibited to practice offensive magic without a teacher present!” he exclaimed. “I should have known you were involved, Choi San. You’ve always been one of those troublemakers.”

San rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. “And I should have known that you’d be Headmistress Park’s number one watch dog.”

“Impulsive as always,” Snippet scoffed in disbelief. “How did you even manage to gather so many promising students to go along with your foolish little spiel?” he asked him as he looked from Hongjoong to Yeosang, who were both popular among teachers and for their model student-like reputation. He looked even more confused when he turned to Seonghwa. “Especially you, Mr. Park, should know better than to join his primitive causes. Don’t you have a reputation to uphold as the headmistress’ son?”

Seonghwa’s eyes widened at those last words and threw a panicked look at the others. Mingi and Yeosang stared back at him with surprise, but Hongjoong only raised an eyebrow in amusement. He didn’t seem too shocked about this news.

Mingi gasped. “What? Is he saying the headmistress is your mom?”

“Is that true?” Yeosang asked. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

San couldn’t help but feel bad for Seonghwa as he knew how much he’d wanted this to remain a secret from the others until he’d tell them himself.

Seonghwa didn’t even get to explain himself to them as Snippet already told Sanha to lead him outside.

“You should head to her office right away, Mr. Park. I have already informed her about this incident,” Snippet said as Seonghwa and Sanha left the room together. He then turned to Yeosang, Mingi, Hongjoong, and San. “You will face serious consequences for this. Detention for all of you. I will see you in my office tomorrow.”

And with that he left the classroom, slamming the door behind him.

Hongjoong was still wringing out his robes when Yeosang and Mingi let themselves sink down to the floor.

“Bro, aren’t you surprised at all?” Mingi finally asked San.

“No. He already told me while we were mapping out the Department of Mysteries together,” San admitted. There was no point in denying it now that they knew.

Mingi turned the slightest bit sulky. “You knew all along and yet you didn’t tell us?”

“I promised him not to! Plus, he was going to tell you guys eventually. He was just scared that you wouldn’t trust him anymore if you knew that she’s his mother,” San explained.

Mingi sighed. “I guess that makes sense…”

“He’s probably in big trouble with her now though,” Yeosang pointed out. “She wanted him to spy on us after all, not join us.”

“He’ll be fine. What is she going to do, expel her own son?” Hongjoong chimed in. “He’s probably just going to get scolded.”

“I suppose you’re right… But then again, what are we going to do about Snippet?” Yeosang asked in a worried tone. “What if he keeps us in detention when we’re supposed to head to London tomorrow?”

San couldn’t care less about detention. They really didn’t have time for any of this. In fact, time was running out and nothing seemed to be going right today.

He threw a look at the others, who were still discussing. He sure as hell wasn’t going to leave Wooyoung in there any longer just because some geezer of a professor had given him detention. He was going to save Wooyoung as soon as possible and if it was the last thing he was going to do.

If they weren’t going to do anything, he’d just have to take care of things himself.

**Saturday, December 3rd. 06:17PM. Hogwarts, Headmistress’ Office. Park Seonghwa.**

“I hope for your sake that the reason Professor Snippet caught you in the company of Choi San because you were spying on them,” the headmistress said as soon as Seonghwa had closed the heavy door behind him and stepped into her office. “But next time you do that, do not engage in their antics. The practice of offensive magic is prohibited and, as you know, those kinds of discrepancies would not look good on your record. I have convinced Professor Snippet to calm down for now, so there’s no need to worry. Just don’t let it happen again.”

Seonghwa bit his lip. “That’s… not why I was there.”

“What?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at him. “Why else would you have been there?”

“Because…” Seonghwa paused and took a deep breath. “Because I’ve decided to help them find Wooyoung.”

The headmistress’ jaw dropped, and she gave a nervous chuckle. “What do you mean, you’re helping them? Mr. Jung transferred schools, there’s nothing to help them with,” she said stubbornly, as if rehearsed.

Seonghwa felt himself grow more and more frustrated by the second. How could she care so little about her very own students? How could she sit here and pretend that everything was fine? How could she lie to his face about Wooyoung’s whereabouts?

“Are you even aware of what you’re doing?” he asked through gritted teeth.

“I am very aware.”

“Then what about Wooyoung? If you know that his life is at stake, why aren’t you doing anything to help him? Why are you covering up the disappearance of one of your students? Doesn’t any of this mean anything to you?”

Seonghwa was shouting by now, and his mother had risen from her seat behind her desk.

“I have no other choice! It’s for the better and you are just too young to understand that!”

“Too young? In case you haven’t noticed, I’m an adult now, mother.” He realized how childish that sounded, but he didn’t care.

Strangely, her features softened the slightest bit as she regarded him. “Seonghwa. I’m trying to protect you.”

“How is any of this protecting me?”

“I can’t tell you that.” Her cold façade had returned, and she sat back down. “Just do what I tell you. It’s for your own good.”

Seonghwa scoffed. Of course she’d want him to go back to doing whatever she told him to do. Of course she’d still see him as the puppet she’d raised him to be. But he wasn’t going to be that anymore. It was time for him to make his own decisions, no matter what the consequences were going to be.

“I don’t want your protection,” he decided. “Not if it involves putting my friends in lethal danger.”

She looked at him for a few seconds and sighed before speaking. “I’m disappointed in you, Seonghwa.”

“And I’m disappointed in _you_ , mother.”

He saw her open her mouth in exasperation, but she didn’t get to say anything else. Seonghwa had already turned on his heel and stormed out the door. His way down the stone staircase was like a haze to him.

It was the first time he’d ever talked back to his mother. For some reason it felt a lot less freeing than he’d expected it to. Instead, he felt anxious about the consequences, even though he told himself that he didn’t want to care about that. Making his own decisions was supposed to be a good thing.

But then again, what if she took it out on his friends? She’d already had it out for San as soon as he’d stormed into her office to ask about Wooyoung. What if Seonghwa had just made it all worse? What if… what if she got the others expelled because of this?

No, she wouldn’t do that. Or would she? Seonghwa didn’t know anymore.

He was so shaken up that he almost walked right into Hongjoong, who stood right at the foot of the stairs outside the headmistress’ office.

Seonghwa looked at him with wide eyes as he mumbled an apology. He then stood there awkwardly, looking down at his hands. What if his mother was going to ruin Hongjoong’s perfect record just for being friends with Seonghwa? What if she made sure he didn’t get the bright future he deserved and worked so hard for just because Seonghwa disobeyed?

Hongjoong simply pulled Seonghwa into a hug. “You okay?” he asked. His tone was unusually careful and sweet.

Seonghwa awkwardly returned his hug. Hongjoong was so much smaller than him that he could easily rest his head against Seonghwa’s chest. “Yeah, I think so.”

Hongjoong pulled away again and gave him an apologetic smile. “She probably got really mad, huh? Sorry. I should’ve decided on a better practice location where we wouldn’t have gotten caught.”

Seonghwa raised an eyebrow, surprised by this sudden apology. “It’s not your fault. We all could have come up with a safer option but what’s done is done. I told her that I wasn’t going to be her puppet anymore.”

Hongjoong chuckled. “Damn. That was brave of you.”

“Hey. You’re making it sound like I never do anything brave,” Seonghwa complained with a chuckle.

“You got me there.”

“Unbelievable.”

They started to head back to the castle together, just aimlessly wandering through the hallways in comfortable silence.

At some point, Seonghwa turned to Hongjoong. “I can’t believe you never told me you were a part-time dragon, by the way.”

Hongjoong laughed. “If the situation wasn’t so critical, I probably never would’ve told anyone. Actually, well, maybe I would’ve told you eventually.”

Seonghwa blinked in surprise. “Me? Why?”

“Because you’re… one of the few people I trust,” Hongjoong admitted, looking down at the half-eaten Cauldron Cake in his hand. It was strange to see his everlasting confidence fade, even if it was just for a moment.

Seonghwa smiled. “Thanks. I appreciate that. And I trust you too.”

Hongjoong lifted his head to smirk up at him. “I hope you realize that I will not hesitate to turn into my dragon form and eat you if you ever break that trust.”

Seonghwa laughed and lifted his hands in defense. “Got it.”

**Saturday, December 3rd. 10:12PM. Hogwarts, Transfiguration Courtyard. Song Mingi.**

After everything that had happened today, Mingi wanted nothing more but to take an after-dark walk with his pet toad Silas. He really needed some time to himself to clear his head from all the chaos that had unfolded since last Saturday.

He climbed the stairs that led out of the dungeons and crossed the Entrance Hall until he reached the foot of the Great Stairs.

“Silas, do you prefer the Transfiguration Courtyard or the Boathouse?” Mingi asked the toad sitting in his cupped hands.

Silas croaked loudly.

“Transfiguration Courtyard it is then.”

It was already way past curfew, so Mingi was glad that he didn’t run into any prefects or teachers on his way there. He pushed open the door that would lead him out of the ground floor hallway and into the Transfiguration Courtyard area. He was happily whistling to himself when he realized that somebody was already there.

Mingi stopped in his tracks and looked through one of the arches to see who it was.

It was Yunho, lounging on one of the benches placed around the massive iron Armillary Sphere that stood in the center of the courtyard and looking up at the moon.

How come he always ended up ran into Yunho whenever he went out at night?

Not up for a fight, Mingi was about to turn to leave already – he’d just show Silas some other place of the castle – when Yunho heaved a sigh.

Now that Mingi looked at him, Yunho seemed very occupied and concerned as he stared straight up at the starry night sky above him.

Mingi hesitated for a second before carefully approaching him.

“You okay?”

His voice seemed to have ripped Yunho out of his thoughts as his head snapped in Mingi’s direction. Instead of his usual glare, he even gave Mingi a small smile as soon as he recognized him.

“Oh, hey. You startled me,” he said and sat up. “I’m just… thinking.”

“I figured as much,” Mingi chuckled and took a seat next to him on the bench. “Is it about tomorrow?”

“You know me too well,” Yunho smiled and looked back up at the crescent moon. Mingi noticed how little he had seen Yunho smile lately and then realized that he was partly a reason for that. “Yeah… I guess I’m just so nervous about it in a way. I have no idea what to expect.”

Mingi nodded to himself. “I know what you mean. I’m scared too.”

Yunho raised an eyebrow at him and smirked. “I didn’t think I’d see the day you admit that you’re scared of something.”

Mingi raised his hands in mock-defense. “I get soft sometimes, okay?”

Yunho laughed. The kind of laugh that made his eyes turn into little crescents as his voice sounded into the night.

Mingi had no choice but to chuckle along.

Yunho then looked at Silas sitting in Mingi’s hands. “Do you always take him with you when you go for a past-curfew walk?” he asked with a chuckle.

“Sometimes I do. _She_ ’s a lovely companion,” Mingi replied.

Yunho nodded to himself with a chuckle. “I’m sure she’s lovely.”

“Anyway. I don’t think you have much to worry about. You’ve mastered all the spells Hongjoong has taught us,” Mingi said and nudged Yunho’s side.

“I suppose that’s true, but what if I forget about it all as soon as push comes to shove?”

“You won’t. You’re smart and you’re good at magic.”

“How can you be so sure? I’m by far not as good as San or Jongho…”

“Listen, I just know it. Those cult guys won’t stand a chance. Plus, you won’t be alone,” Mingi reassured him and put a hand on Yunho’s shoulder, “so don’t worry.”

Yunho turned to Mingi again. He didn’t say anything in response and just smiled at him.

A silence settled between them for a few seconds in which the two of them just looked at each other. Then Silas, who was still sitting in Mingi’s free hand, croaked into that silence, which made both of them laugh.

Not long after, Mingi got up and extended a hand for Yunho to follow him. Yunho blushed the slightest bit and hesitated before taking his hand and letting Mingi pull him to his feet.

Mingi then pulled Yunho into a hug. He partly did it to reassure him, but also because he’d wanted to pull him close for longer than he was willing to admit.

Despite tensing up in surprise at first, Yunho didn’t resist and gratefully hugged him back.

“I…” Mingi cleared his throat before correcting himself, “I mean _we_ won’t let anything happen to you,” Mingi said quietly and buried one of his hands in Yunho’s hair.

Yunho was the first to pull away to smile at him. “Thanks, Mingi. I think I really needed to hear that.”

Mingi smiled at him in response and sheepishly scratched the back of his head. “I try.”

“Shall we head back? It’s getting kind of cold…” Yunho admitted.

“Sure,” Mingi replied. He cursed himself for not bringing a jacket to give to Yunho all romantically like they always did in the movies. He did however manage to smoothly take Yunho’s hand and didn’t let go of it for the rest of the way.

**Saturday, December 3rd. 10:54PM. Hogwarts, Slytherin Common Room. Choi San.**

Sparkling light, endless ticking, a dark cell.

All of that was flashing through San’s mind after he had once again been pulled into this strange trance again, just like he had in Muggle Studies class a few days ago. It was the second time it had happened today.

Desperation, frustration, hopelessness, and pain. Horrible pain. Time was running out. San could feel it.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, San could practically hear it. That voice that had lured him into this sleep-like state in the first place.

_Help… Please… I can’t take it anymore._

San opened his eyes. This was it. This sense of urgency had been sitting in his mind all day and he was almost certain that it was Wooyoung. He didn’t know how he was doing it, but he was pretty sure that he was calling for immediate help.

San rose to his feet. He couldn’t sit around any longer. He couldn’t wait until tomorrow. Wooyoung needed him. San couldn’t explain how he knew, but he was sure of it. If he didn’t go now, it would be too late.

He grabbed his wand, his hand shaking the slightest bit as he pulled out his luggage from underneath his bed. He rustled through his belongings, leaving them splattered all over the floor until he found his backpack. He hastily packed everything he thought he could possibly need. The floor plan of the Department of Mysteries, the time turner, a handful of healing and strengthening potions Yeosang and Hongjoong had prepared, Mingi’s Firebolt Supreme, and lastly, the wand in his hand.

If the others wanted to stick to the original plan and wait until tomorrow so bad, he’d just have to go by himself.

The common room was empty once again, and San only allowed himself a few more seconds of calming his racing heart before heading toward the portrait hole that would lead to the dungeons. He was only a few footsteps away from it when it opened for somebody standing outside in the hallway.

San stopped in his tracks and much to his dismay, Mingi climbed through the portrait hole and came to a halt in front of him.

Fuck. So much for his secret plan.

Mingi gave him a surprised look. “Bro, where are you going? Isn’t it super late?”

“I, um…” San stammered. He didn’t get to come up with a plausible lie in time as Mingi’s eyes fell on the broom in his hands.

“Is that my broom? Why would you…” he trailed off as realization washed over him. His confused expression was replaced by an angry one. “Don’t tell me you’re on your way to London by yourself right now.”

San didn’t reply and averted his eyes.

Mingi angrily crossed his arms over his chest. “First the time turner thing and now this! You really need to stop playing the hero and trying to get through tough situations by yourself!”

San’s anxiousness only fueled the anger that perked up inside of him once again. “What else am I supposed to do? Who else is going to save him if I don’t? I’m not going to let them get away with this! I’m not going to let him die!”

“You’re just gonna get yourself killed if you go by yourself!” Mingi exclaimed in frustration. “We’ve been over this so many times, we have to do this together!”

“Don’t you get it?! Time is running out! You saw what they did to him! We have to do something, and we have to do it now!”

Mingi bit his lip, visibly conflicted.

“Mingi, please. It will be too late if we go tomorrow. I just know it. I can feel it. Wooyoung needs us. I can’t just go to sleep and pretend that nothing’s wrong.”

Mingi still didn’t say anything as he considered San’s words.

San only raised his eyebrows at him expectantly. His patience had been running thin all day and he couldn’t stand uselessly hanging around any longer.

He had already pushed past him to leave the common room by himself when Mingi held him back by the arm.

“Alright, alright! We’re going. But let’s at least get the others.”

**Saturday, December 3rd. 11:27PM. Ministry of Magic, Hall of Prophecies. Jung Wooyoung.**

“It’s finally time,” Stephan muttered to himself excitedly as he led Wooyoung - and the group of guards surrounding him - through the endlessly tall shelves stocked with what must have been more than a million prophecy records.

It looked pretty almost; the light blue glow coming from the abundance of small, spun-glass orbs. Each of them had a label tied to them that read a series of numbers as well as the name of the person they’d been made about. They were filled with some mysterious smoke, and Wooyoung could’ve sworn that he saw images flash inside of them from time to time. Images of faces, locations, or things that Wooyoung couldn’t recognize from afar. Something about the thought that they contained logs of prophecies made hundreds and thousands of years ago fascinated Wooyoung.

It would have fascinated him even more if he wasn’t possibly nearing the end of his life after being forced to tell these cult people what kind of future awaited their precious New Lord. Cold fear crawled up Wooyoung’s spine at the thought and he couldn’t hold back occasional pained hisses as the guards roughly urged him forward.

His entire body felt weak and sluggish, and his legs felt like they would give out underneath him if it wasn’t for the two guards holding him up. His sides were aching horribly, and he suspected that – thanks to Donovan - at least one of his ribs was either sprained or fractured. It was like somebody stabbed him in the side whenever he breathed in too deep.

It was hopeless. Game over. Fin.

“I’m so proud of you,” Wooyoung heard Stephan say excitedly. He only registered his words distantly in the back of his mind somewhere as he let the guards drag him along. Fighting back had become horribly pointless. “The New Lord will rise and it’s all thanks to you. It is a great honor.”

Wooyoung only huffed at him as he glanced around himself. His chances of escape were slim. Beside the two guards holding onto his arms in a tight grip, there were three more guards trailing behind him, effectively blocking the way to the Time Room. Even if he did manage to somehow break free from the two guys beside him, there was no way he’d be able to get past him in his current condition and without a wand.

The reality of what this meant hit Wooyoung like a truck.

He would never see his friends again. He would never see San again. He would never get to tell him that he loved him, that he was the best thing that had ever happened to him. He would never get to thank him for making his life so much sweeter.

Wooyoung tried not to show any signs of weakness, no matter how much his spirits were suffering. He didn’t want to give those people the satisfaction of seeing him break.

They eventually arrived in the far end of the hall. It was a far more spacious area than the long narrow rows of shelves had been, and about thirty people in hooded robes had formed a circle around an empty chair and some sort of podium. They really made it look like some kind of cult ritual that would end in human sacrifice. The now all too familiar feeling of fear and anxiety spiked in his chest.

The guards made Wooyoung sit down in that chair and didn’t leave his side, making sure that he wouldn’t run. Not that there would’ve been any point in trying anyway.

At first, there was nothing but an eerie silence filling the room. Wooyoung figured that they were waiting for the New Lord.

While waiting, Wooyoung’s eyes fell back on the podium in the middle of the circle. There was a black pillow on it that balanced a single prophecy record. It was safe to assume that it was the one they needed Wooyoung to read, the one were all obsessing over.

In fact, there was a little tag attached to its base that had a series of numbers and the name _Vassily Politovsky_ scribbled onto it in spider-like handwriting. For some reason, Wooyoung felt strangely drawn to it, as if something inside of him was urging him to reach out to it and touch it.

Another five minutes later, the New Lord finally made his appearance. He too was wearing hooded robes, just like the four men trailing after him. Wooyoung recognized them to be Ilya, Donovan, and two other guys that had regularly guarded Wooyoung’s cell. He had never learned their names. Not that it mattered.

A mixture of hatred, betrayal and horror shot through Wooyoung at the sight of Donovan. It was like all of the pain he had caused Wooyoung intensified at the sight of him. He didn’t want to fully admit it, but he was scared of the man.

The circle of hooded people greeted the New Lord with some weird chant about how the Cleanse will come and free their race of filth, and as time went by, this whole thing started to feel more and more like an execution. Maybe Wooyoung would’ve rolled his eyes if he wasn’t so terrified.

When their creepy chant finally came to an end, the New Lord gave everyone his usual amused smirk. “Thank you, thank you. The first night of the Cleanse has finally come. We will finally achieve what our glorious predecessor has failed to achieve. We will finally finish what he has started, and we will follow the guidance of the prophecy and take over the wizarding world.”

His followers nodded eagerly at those words. Wooyoung had to wonder once again how he had gotten himself into this circle of delusional people. Just about a week ago, Wooyoung’s life had been happy and normal. He had gotten drunk at his birthday party, danced with his friends, shared that amazing first kiss with San... All of that now felt like a lifetime ago.

Wooyoung’s eyes started to water with tears, but he didn’t allow himself to cry.

The New Lord continued his delusional speech for a while longer. Once he finished, he put on a thick pair of gloves and took the prophecy record from its podium before carefully carrying it over to Wooyoung.

For a moment, Wooyoung feared that they had made some kind of mistake, and that the instant madness that kept Non-Legilimens people from directly touching the prophecy records would affect him as well.

Luckily, it didn’t. Wooyoung still felt the same when the guy let the glass ball roll into his hands. Wooyoung had expected it to be cold but it actually felt oddly warm against his skin. It felt as if it was a living thing with something like body heat.

But that wasn’t the weirdest thing about it.

He could clearly see faces floating around in it. It was hard to recognize them through all the mist at first, but the longer he stared into the prophecy record, the clearer the faces became. He wasn’t surprised to see the New Lord in there - the prophecy was about him after all – there was somebody else. Somebody he had probably expected to see the least. Somebody Wooyoung knew all too well.

“San…” Wooyoung breathed out in disbelief.

Wooyoung couldn’t tell if his exhausted brain was just letting him see things. No, it really was him. His dark, foxlike eyes, his soft lips – there was no doubt about it.

San’s face was inside of this stupid prophecy record about the New Lord.

But how was that possible? How could San, _his_ San ever be related to the New Lord? It just didn’t make any sense.

“What are you waiting for?” Donovan asked harshly, ripping Wooyoung out of his thoughts. He pointed his wand right at Wooyoung’s heart. “Do it! Read the prophecy!”

Wooyoung glared up at his former professor before looking back at the prophecy. If he wanted to avoid getting tortured again, he had no choice but to do what they said for now. He then shook the confusion about San being a part of the New Lord’s prophecy out of his head and cleared his mind.

He closed his eyes and tried to forget about everything around him to focus solely on the prophecy record in his hands. After a few seconds of nothing but concentration, he felt the magic run through his veins and into the glass orb in his hand as he reached out to it with his spirit, just like he had with San when he had tried to send him messages.

Eventually, he felt some sort of energy take over him as a voice read out the prophecy in his head.

_Light can bend the future_

_and light controls the time._

_But darkness has the power_

_and darkness will decide._

_When the first comes to die_

_and the second one is born_

_both will find each other_

_and form the vital bond._

_Light and dark go far beyond_

_to fail or succeed together._

As soon as the voice had finished saying what it had to say, the strange energy left him again as he opened his eyes. He had no idea what any of that was supposed to mean.

Light? Darkness? Vital bond? Which part of it was related to San?

Wooyoung didn’t get to figure out an answer to that as one of the guys whose name he didn’t know shook him out of his trance.

“What? Did it work? What does it say?” he asked frantically.

Wooyoung blinked up at him. “I… I don’t know,” he lied. They saw right through him of course.

“Lies,” another one said, “He heard it! He heard the prophecy!”

The New Lord didn’t say anything and just looked right at Wooyoung with an amused and attentive expression on his pale face.

“Tell them, Wooyoung,” said Stephan softly, “Tell them what it says.”

Wooyoung bit down on his lip. All his hopeless thought from earlier had disappeared. Now that he’d found out that San was somehow involved in this, he couldn’t risk telling them. What if they went after him next?

Wooyoung couldn’t let that happen. He already knew he wasn’t going to make it out of there alive. The only option he had left was to do anything that would ruin those people’s plans. He was going to die anyway. But he would die trying his best to stop them, or at least slow down their stupid cause. No matter how much they were going to torture him, the last thing he wasn’t going to do was cooperate. The last thing he was going to in his life was going to be for San.

“No. Not over my dead body,” Wooyoung bit out.

The New Lord sighed dramatically. “I had hoped that we would not have to resort to this,” he said, his cold eyes piercing right through Wooyoung’s. “David. Do what you need to do. But try not to kill him.”

**Saturday, December 3rd. 11:39PM. Hogwarts, Viaduct. Choi San.**

It was cold and windy up on the viaduct. The night air felt chilly against their skin as it pulled at their robes and ruffled up their hair. San’s grip tightened around the Firebolt Supreme in his hand as he and Mingi waited for the others to show up.

San had charmed a handful of hastily scribbled notes, telling the others to come to the viaduct in order to head to London right away. He’d told them to bring their wands and the potions and made sure to mention that they needed both Jongho’s and Wooyoung’s brooms. He’d also told them to hurry up. He still felt like they had no time to waste with this.

San wasn’t sure whether it was his intuition or another one of Wooyoung’s mental broadcasts to him. All he knew was that they should get to the ministry as soon as possible.

He impatiently shifted from one foot to another as he stared at the castle entrance, holding out for any of the team members to arrive.

Mingi took his hand. “Don’t worry, we’ll make it in time. They’ll be here any minute. Jongho probably just has trouble bringing both his own and Wooyoung’s broom,” he said calmly.

San nodded, but he didn’t feel reassured in the slightest. At least not until Hongjoong and Yunho came running toward them from the castle.

“We came here as soon as we got your note. What happened? Why aren’t we following the plan?” Yunho asked, slightly out of breath from running.

“Yeah, I thought we were going tomorrow,” said Hongjoong, looking just as disheveled.

“I’ll explain once everyone is here,” San assured them impatiently and continued to keep an eye out for the others.

Seonghwa and Yeosang arrived around three minutes later, closely followed by Jongho, who ran with two broomsticks in his hands.

“Why the sudden change of plan?” asked Yeosang, a worried frown occupying his usually bright features. “Did something happen?”

“San was about to head to London by himself because he thinks that we’ll be too late if we don’t leave right now. I barely stopped him. This is his compromise for not going alone,” Mingi explained.

Yeosang gasped and turned to look at San. “You wanted to go alone? Are you insane? That would’ve been suicide!”

“Yeah, yeah. I get it, alright?” San replied with a roll of his eyes. “We don’t have time for any of that right now! Let’s please just go now. If any of you have changed your mind about this, now is your last chance to back out.”

He scanned their faces for any signs of hesitation or remorse. He was met by nothing but determination mixed with a healthy hint of fear. None of them questioned his decision to leave for London right this instant.

“Thanks,” San managed a weak smile. “In that case we should get ready. Hongjoong?”

Hongjoong showed his signature smirk, immediately catching onto what he was supposed to do. He took a few steps back before starting to transform into his Animagus form.

It happened a lot faster than San had expected. His limbs grew longer, his head grew bigger, and his complexion switched colors, and he after a few seconds, he had fully taken on the full form of a cerulean blue dragon. His long snake-like body carried large wings that had a wingspan wider than the viaduct as well as two legs that ended in sharp claws. His head was decorated with two white horns, and his eyes still had the same intelligent and mysterious look in them as they had in his human form.

San felt his own jaw drop at the sight.

“Oh my god,” Yeosang breathed and instinctively grabbed onto the person closest to him, which happened to be San.

“Wicked, dude,” whispered Mingi in awe as he stared at the creature in front of him.

Seonghwa was the only one who furrowed his brows. “Didn’t you say you were a dragon? You only have two legs. That makes you a wyvern.”

Dragon Hongjoong turned to him and glared, lifting his giant wings.

“Your wings don’t count,” said Seonghwa, shaking his head. “Trust me, by definition, you are a wyvern.”

Hongjoong let his wings sink back to the ground and shot Seonghwa a glare. Oddly enough, even in his dragon – sorry, _wyvern_ – form, San recognized Hongjoong’s sulk on the creatures face. Seonghwa only chuckled.

“Let’s have that discussion another time, guys. Let’s get going,” suggested Jongho.

Everyone got into position as discussed earlier today. San handed Mingi his broom and instead received Wooyoung’s broom from Jongho, who gave his own broom to Seonghwa. Hongjoong then lowered himself to the ground to let the rest of them – Yunho, Jongho, and Yeosang – climb onto his slender back.

Yunho sat in the front just behind the base of Wyvern Hongjoong’s wings, wrapping his arms around his long neck for stability, Jongho was right behind him, grabbing onto Yunho’s robes, and Yeosang was in the far back, his arms wrapped around Jongho’s torso and holding onto him for dear life.

Looking at the three of them now, San was glad to be riding a broom tonight.

“Hold on, shouldn’t we disguise ourselves somehow? What if somebody sees us? Especially Hongjoong…” Yunho questioned.

“Good point. What do we do?” asked Jongho.

Seonghwa pulled out his wand. “Let’s use a Disillusionment Charm. That way we should be safe,” he suggested.

San nodded. “Okay, sounds good.”

And with that, Seonghwa went from person to person, making them seemingly disappear one by one. They weren’t exactly invisible, they had simply taken on the color of their surroundings, as if they’d all become human chameleons. When he got to San and cast the charm on him, San looked down at his body only to see it gone. All he saw was Wooyoung’s broom beneath him. San didn’t allow himself too much time to think about how weird this was and gave the others instructions about staying close together until they’d land in London.

Not long after, Wyvern Hongjoong spread his large wings, took a huge leap down the viaduct before bringing himself and his three passengers far up towards the clouds with a series of big flaps of his wings. Mingi, San, and Seonghwa also pushed themselves off the ground and followed him on their brooms. They gladly let Wyvern Hongjoong take the lead as he seemed to know which way they had to go.

San made sure not to stray too far from the others as they tore through the freezing air just below the few clouds that decorated the night sky.

His heart was racing. He couldn’t help but worry about whatever was waiting for them beyond the doors of the Department of Mysteries. It was a dangerous place, probably far more so than any of them could fathom, but San was ready to face anything that came between him and Wooyoung.

It was going to be a long night, and San was ready for it.


	9. Sunday, December 4th

**Sunday, December 4th. 12:23AM. Choi San.**

San had soon lost track of where exactly they were. They had been flying for at least half an hour and all he could make out were the city lights from far beneath them.

Wyvern Hongjoong had taken the lead and was flying ahead as he seemed to know in which direction the ministry was. Unfortunately, they couldn’t ask him how far it was in his wyvern form.

San’s knuckles had turned white and his face had gotten numb from the stinging cold, but he endured it. He just hoped they weren’t too late and that they would be able to get into the Department of Mysteries as smoothly as possible.

At long last, Hongjoong changed course and began to fly lower and lower. The bright lights coming from the ground signaled San that they had finally reached London. Under any other circumstance, it would have been a beautiful view.

When they slowed down and gracefully landed on the pavement of an alley somewhere in central London, San was glad to have his feet on the ground again. Judging from their relieved sighs and groans, the others seemed to feel the same way. Seonghwa and Mingi got off their respective brooms and San followed their example as Yunho slid off the wyvern’s back.

Jongho did the same before helping Yeosang down. The latter ungracefully stumbled to the side a little, causing Jongho to chuckle and grab him by the hips until he regained his balance.

“Thanks,” Yeosang mumbled before they awkwardly parted again.

“That was pretty fun, I must say,” said Hongjoong as soon as he’d returned to his human form.

Yunho shook his head. “For the first few minutes, yeah. After that I kind of missed the stability of a good old broomstick.”

Hongjoong nudged his side. “I’m sorry, handsome. I tried my best to fly as evenly as possible.”

“Alright, everyone. Let’s go,” said Seonghwa. “The Visitor’s Entrance is that way.”

It didn’t take them long to get there. They followed Seonghwa down the street, rounded a corner, and found themselves in front of the abandoned red telephone box that would be their way in. San opened the door and urged the others to follow him inside.

They soon found out that it was not built to bear seven people as they squeezed into the small box. With a struggle, Mingi managed to pull the door shut behind them. Nobody was able to move as they were all tangled up in each other in this tight space.

“Whoever can reach the receiver, dial six two four four two,” commanded Seonghwa.

“No can do,” said Mingi, “I can’t even tell which corner of the cell I’m being squeezed into.” His voice sounded muffled, as if his face was pressed against the windows of the box somewhere.

“Don’t worry, I’ll do it,” replied Jongho from somewhere else, sounding just as squeezed together. San heard a series of beep tones as Jongho dialed.

“Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business,” sounded a cool female voice.

“Kang Yeosang, Kim Hongjoong, Choi San,” Seonghwa listed, “Song Mingi, Jeong Yunho, Choi Jongho, and Park Seonghwa. We’re here to…” He trailed off and gave San a questioning look. He had to peek over Yeosang’s head to do so, as he was uncomfortably pressed against his chest.

“…to retrieve a hostage because your glorious ministry doesn’t even know what’s going on in its very own walls,” San finished his sentence.

“Thank you,” the voice said. “Visitors, please take the badges and attach them to the front of your robes.”

Yeosang held up the badges and everyone took one. Mingi, who stood closer to Yeosang than San did, handed him his. _Choi San. Rescue Mission,_ it read.

“Visitors to the Ministry, you are required to submit to a search and present your wands for registration at the security desk, which is located at the far end of the Atrium,” the voice informed them before the telephone box descended through the ground.

Everything around them went black for a few seconds before the bright rays of light broke through the glass as the box lowered itself to the floor of the Atrium.

“The Ministry of Magic wishes you a pleasant evening,” said the woman’s voice. They all poured out of the box as soon as the door opened.

Just as Seonghwa had predicted, the Atrium was completely empty. They found themselves in a very long and splendid hall with a highly polished, dark wood floor and a dark blue ceiling that was covered in gleaming golden symbols. The walls on each side were paneled in shiny dark wood and had many fireplaces set into them.

It was eerily quiet. Nobody said anything as they walked past the fireplaces - that were most likely part of the Floo Network - and towards the elevator on the other side of the hall.

“Wait,” whispered Jongho, “there’s a guard.”

He was right. San had almost overseen the short and chubby middle-aged man standing behind his desk only a few meters away from the elevator. He seemed sort of bored but was attentive enough to eye them suspiciously from afar.

“What do we do?” asked Yeosang in a worried whisper as the man put his magazine aside.

They didn’t have time to come up with a plan without making themselves seem suspicious as they had already reached the guard’s desk.

“What are you doing here? Business hours are long over,” the man said, looking them up and down.

“It’s an emergency. Our friend is being held captive down in the Department of Mysteries by some crazy cult people!” explained Mingi quickly.

The guard laughed. “Yeah sure. Anything else?” he asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“We know how wild this sounds, but you have to believe us! It’s the truth!” Yeosang pleaded.

The man turned to him. “If I got a pound for every time somebody came here and tried to pull a prank like this, I’d have a better job. This isn’t a place for scavenger hunts. You’d better skedaddle before I call the authorities.”

San scoffed. “Listen here, sir. We don’t have time for – ”

He got interrupted by Hongjoong putting an arm on his shoulder, calm as ever. “Let me handle this.”

Hongjoong then pulled out his wand and pointed it right at the guard, whose eyes widened.

“Hey, what are you – ”

“ _Imperio_!”

The guard’s eyes went hazy and unfocused as he blankly stared back at Hongjoong.

“You’re going to open the gates to the elevators and let us pass,” Hongjoong told the man in a stern voice.

The guard nodded and pressed a button somewhere behind his desk, which caused the golden gates to their left to rattle open.

“Thank you,” Hongjoong grinned, before flicking his wand once more. “ _Obliviate_.”

The guards featured softened into a dumb grin as he sat down in front of his desk as if nothing had happened.

“What the – ” Yeosang started, but Hongjoong ignored him and passed right through the - now open - golden gates to the elevators. The others followed him. They hurried into the first elevator available, and San quickly pressed the number nine button.

Yeosang angrily turned to Hongjoong as soon as the doors had closed in front of them and the elevator took them to an even lower level. “Was that really necessary?”

“I didn’t have much of a choice there, princess. Unless of course you want to end up in Azkaban once he rats us out,” Hongjoong replied calmly.

“You used an unforgivable curse!” Yeosang retorted in exasperation.

“How else were we going to get past him?” Hongjoong exclaimed, crossing his arms. “I thought you wanted to save your best friend.”

“Of course I want to save him! But we could have found another way!”

“Oh, yeah? Please elaborate!”

“You’re such a – ”

But they didn’t get to find out as the elevator came to a halt and the same cool female voice announced, “Department of Mysteries.”

The two of them quieted down when the doors reopened, revealing the dark corridor that led to the Rotating Room. It looked about ten times creepier than it had in the visions or even the times San and Seonghwa had explored this place with Yunho’s time turner.

“We’re here,” whispered San.

He hesitated before stepping out of the elevator, the others following close behind him. The air in the dark and gloomy hallway was cool, and the torches on the wall didn’t give off any warmth whatsoever.

After a short walk with nothing but their footsteps to be heard, they arrived in the Rotating Room.

“Yeosang, do you have the map ready?” asked San.

Yeosang reached into his pocket, pulled out the floor plan San and Seonghwa had drawn and carefully unfolded it. “Of course.”

“Alright, somebody close the door we came through. As soon as we do that, the room will start to spin and we won’t know which door is which anymore,” San explained. “After that, we’ll have to try out all the doors until we find the Time Room.”

And with that, Mingi closed the door and the room started to spin, just as San had predicted. San even got a little dizzy, looking at the blur of doors rushing through his vision. Then everything returned to normal, except for the fact that there was no turning back. Every single door looked the exactly like the next one, and only one of them would lead them to the Time Room.

San stepped forward to open the door right in front of them. It didn’t budge. It was presumably the one he and Seonghwa already hadn’t been able to open in the past.

“It’s the locked one,” he informed the others who were just lining up behind him, their wands out and ready to defend themselves against anything that would come at them.

“Should we split up?” Yunho asked when San turned back to look at them. “We’ll probably find it faster that way.”

Yeosang looked up from the floor plan and shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Who knows what the ministry is keeping behind those doors? We should stick together.”

“Agreed. This place is probably more dangerous than we think,” San said and looked around the circular room to decide which door they should try next.

“Wait!” exclaimed Seonghwa suddenly. “Before we move on… _Flagrate_!”

He pointed his wand at the locked door and drew in midair to make a fiery ‘X’ appear on the door.

“Good thinking,” San smirked as he backed away from the door, letting the room spin once again. Luckily, Seonghwa’s mark remained and allowed them to distinguish the doors they had already checked from the ones they still had left to go.

They continued to use that method for the next two doors as well, both of which led to rooms other than the time room. San felt the pressure well up inside of him again. What if they didn’t make it to him in time? What if it was already too late? San had no idea how much time had passed since the visions he’d had in the dorms. An hour? Maybe even two?

“Come on, please…” he muttered to himself as he pushed open the next door.

He was met by bright, white light and the sound of endless ticking.

“This is it! We found it!” He exclaimed, waving for the others to quickly follow him inside. Seonghwa once again looked tense and uncomfortable being inside the Time Room, but he didn’t comment on it. The others took in their surroundings in awe as they pushed forward.

For some reason, the constant ticking and the eerie nature of the room affected San a lot more than it had the last time he’d been here. All those clocks and their rhythmic ticking had an oddly mesmerizing effect on him. San even thought he saw pictures and scenes flash across the clock-faces for the split of a second.

They’d started out with quick steps toward the office section, but the more San looked around, the more he slowed down. The room gave off such a mysterious atmosphere, yet it felt so oddly inviting. Like the room was pulling him in.

San’s eyes kept coming back to the clock-faces. What kind of scenes were they showing? He couldn’t tell from afar, but he suddenly really needed to know.

Unable to take his eyes off one of the clocks, San suddenly stopped in his tracks, causing someone behind him to run into him. He ignored the others’ questions and stepped closer to the tall, old-looking grandfather’s clock on the left side of the room to take a closer look at what the clock-face was showing. He could’ve sworn that he’d seen –

“Wooyoung…!” San muttered.

He was sure of it now. He could see him on the clock-face, smiling happily as he waved someone over. A past version of San.

San finally recognized the scene playing in front of him.

It was a memory of Wooyoung and himself from last June. They had met up down by the Black Lake to take a swim together. They’d talked, laughed, flirted, and played around in the water until they’d gotten dangerously close to each other. It had been the first time he and Wooyoung had almost kissed before San had decided to tease him for a while before they would actually share their first kiss.

San felt regret rise up in his chest. He shouldn’t have wasted so much time. He should’ve just skipped all the games and all the flirtation. He should’ve just made Wooyoung his right then and there.

The scene then changed. San could see Wooyoung and himself in the Gryffindor Dorms after the birthday party last week, half-drunk and kissing. Wooyoung asked San to stay, but San declined, leaving him alone in his dorm room.

 _You should have stayed_ , an icy voice in the back of his mind told San, _you should’ve protected him._

San felt his heart clench up with guilt and regret as he watched Wooyoung get kidnapped by those people.

 _None of this would’ve happened if you’d just stayed with him,_ the voice said tauntingly. San felt his vision grow blurry with tears threatening to form in his eyes. All the regret, all the guilt, and all the frustration he had tried to push away over the last few weeks caught up to him.

The voice chuckled coldly. _You can go back in time. You can change the past. You can make it stop._

The clock-face showed a scene of how it could have been if San hadn’t left that night. If he’d just stayed with him. He would’ve laid down next to Wooyoung and pulled him close to his chest, silently watching him fall asleep in peace. He would’ve run a hand through his hair and kissed his forehead. He would’ve protected him from all the bad things that could’ve happened.

The voice was right. Everything could be so perfect. Wooyoung could be safe and happy.

San had to go back. It was so _tempting_. It was the only way.

“Didn’t you say we have to hurry?” asked Hongjoong, “What the hell are you doing?”

But San barely heard him. All he saw was the perfect solution in front of his eyes. The easy way out. The ideal alternative.

He reached out to touch the clock-face. He couldn’t explain why, he just knew that it was the right thing to do, he knew that it would allow him to go back in time to solve everything.

But before he could do that, he felt someone, Jongho, pull him away from the clock with force. San looked at him dumbfoundedly. He hadn’t realized how hard he’d tried to struggle out of Jongho’s grip until he notice that he was out of breath.

The voice in his head faded.

“D-Don’t touch that thing! It’s probably dangerous!” he said, shaking San lightly. Uncertainty was laced in his voice and his eyes were wide with fear.

San blinked at him in confusion before looking to his left, where he spotted Hongjoong and Yunho trying to stop Yeosang, Seonghwa, and Mingi from attempting to touch the abundance of clocks. They looked like they were in a state of trance, their arms stretched out for the clock-faces as if they were a bunch of zombies.

San figured that it was some sort of defense function the Time Room had to keep out unauthorized intruders or something. He didn’t know what was going to happen if they touched the clocks, but something told him that it wasn’t going to be something positive.

He and Jongho hurried over to help Hongjoong and Yunho. Jongho decided to help Yunho hold back Mingi - the Slytherin was a lot stronger in resisting Yunho’s efforts than Yeosang was – so San hurried over to hold back Seonghwa.

“No… no more! It’s not my fault…” Seonghwa muttered to himself as San pulled him back, “I didn’t mean to…”

Seonghwa was stronger than expected. San had to use all of his strength to keep him as far away from the modern-looking wall clock as possible, but Seonghwa continued to struggle against him. At the same time, San tried to avoid looking at the clock-faces himself in order not to get drawn in again.

“Stop it, Seonghwa! None of this is real!” San tried to reason, but Seonghwa wouldn’t listen.

“I have to… go back…” said Seonghwa desperately.

“We have to get out of here!” shouted Yunho, who was still struggling alongside Jongho to keep Mingi away from the little alarm clock placed on a shelf next to the grandfather’s clock San had fallen victim to. “Office B is right there!”

With united forces, Yunho, Jongho, San, and Hongjoong managed to drag Mingi, Yeosang, and Seonghwa across the room over to the office doors. As soon as they had brought enough distance between themselves and the wall of clocks, they finally snapped out of it.

“That was way too fucking close,” panted Yunho and gave Mingi pat on the shoulder.

San let go of Seonghwa. He looked disturbed and scared but didn’t say anything for a few seconds as they all regained their breaths.

“Are you okay?” he eventually asked Yeosang, whom Hongjoong was still holding.

“Yes…” Yeosang mumbled as he shimmied out of his grip, his cheeks burning up in embarrassment. “Thanks. It… showed me all of my deepest regrets I-I didn’t have a choice…” he stammered.

“Same... It was like some sort of trance or something,” added Mingi before turning around to look back and forth between Yunho, Jongho, and Hongjoong. “Why weren’t you guys affected at all?”

His eyes lingered on Yunho for a bit longer than the others.

Jongho shrugged. “I don’t think I have any regrets, really…”

“Let’s discuss that later. Let’s get Wooyoung out of here and never come back to this place,” San interrupted them impatiently, walking towards the door that would lead them to Office B. The others fell silent trailed behind him, their wands ready.

“Isn’t this weird though?” whispered Seonghwa as they carefully stepped closer to the door.

“What do you mean?” San whispered back.

Seonghwa looked around them. “Why are there no guards? They had guards stationed outside this door every time we came here in the past.”

San furrowed his brows. Seonghwa was right. How had they not encountered a single guard yet?

“Maybe they’re inside or something?” Yeosang guessed. He carefully leaned forward and pressed an ear against the door to listen. He then looked at the others and shook his head.

Anxiety washed over San. There was no way those guys would have left Wooyoung alone in his cell.

He pushed past Yeosang, opened the door, and was met with an empty room that had nothing but a lonely chair in it.

“No… he… he has to be here!” San exclaimed in panic.

Fear burned in his veins. They were too late. Those people had taken Wooyoung to another location. How were they supposed to find out where they had taken him? How were they supposed to find and help him now? How were they supposed to rescue him in time?

And that’s when they heard it. A long and drawn-out scream of pain.

San’s head immediately snapped towards the source of the scream. There was a door down the hall to their left that San hadn’t even noticed until now.

He’d recognize his voice anywhere. He was certain. It had been Wooyoung screaming.

“Yeosang, what room is that?” San asked, already hurrying towards the door.

Somewhere behind him, he heard the rustling of Yeosang scrambling to unfold the map again. “Um… the Hall of Prophecies.”

“Fuck,” San exclaimed and picked up the pace, the others following him closely.

“San, wait! What if it’s a trap or something?!” San heard one of them call after him, but he didn’t care. All his mind could grasp right now was that they’d heard Wooyoung, that he was still alive, and that he was in pain.

Once San had reached the door and quickly pulled it open, he hesitated for a second, unsure which way to go. That’s when they heard another scream. It was much louder and so pained, it made San’s blood run cold.

San immediately turned on his heel and sprinted in that direction, past all the towering shelves stocked with prophecies. The voices coming from there got louder and louder, he was almost there, running as fast as his legs would carry him.

And then he finally saw him.

Wooyoung, curled up on the ground in front of an empty chair, surrounded by witches and wizards in hooded robes, one of them pointing a wand at him.

“Stop it! Let him go!” San yelled mindlessly, pointing his wand at the man that was torturing Wooyoung. In the corner of his eye, he saw Yeosang and Mingi appear by his side, their wands raised and ready to fight as the others following their example behind him.

The man looked up, his eyes angry and wild. San furrowed his brows. He swore he had seen his face before, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

“Professor Donovan?!” Jongho exclaimed in disbelief.

And that’s when it clicked. It was him. The professor San had overheard in the dungeons, the one that had talked to Professor Snippet about how the New Lord was rising. The one whose name just wouldn’t come to San’s mind even though his voice had sounded so oddly familiar. David Donovan. _Dave_. Wooyoung’s Divination professor.

San had never taken Divination, which was why he had only ever seen him when he had picked Wooyoung up for a date after class. But there he was in his long black robes, torturing Wooyoung for the New Lord’s delusional cause.

“San…!” Wooyoung called with a crack of his voice. He weakly pushed himself up into an almost seating position and stared back at San with widened eyes. Donavan must’ve been so startled to be interrupted by San and the others that he had lifted the Cruciatus Curse on him.

San’s blood ran cold at the sound of his weakened voice. He looked like he was on the verge of passing out. His face was covered in cuts and bruises, his lips were dry and chapped, and his eyes looked bloodshot from whatever they had put him through. San saw shock, disbelief and a flicker of hope flash in them as he met his gaze.

“I’m going to get you out of here, baby!” San yelled back, his wand still pointed at Donovan.

“A knight in shining armor. How very exciting and romantic.”

It was the New Lord himself who had spoken. He sounded amused and calm as he spoke, his Russian accent making his words sound all the more dangerous. He removed his hood and rose from his seat.

San clenched his fists. There he was. The very man who was responsible for all of this. His face pulled into a grin as if this whole situation wasn’t completely fucked up.

“How the hell did those kids get in here? Somebody remove them instantly,” Donovan growled threateningly.

“No worries, David. Let me take care of them,” the New Lord said calmly, gently putting a hand on Donovan’s arm.

“Let him go!” San repeated himself through gritted teeth.

“I am afraid I cannot do that,” the New Lord chuckled. “You see, he is a very valuable part of the puzzle that is our cause.”

“I don’t care about your ridiculous cause!” growled San.

The New Lord only smirked and considered San for a few seconds. “I have to say. I am impressed,” he said after a long pause, “You made it all the way here just to save your little boyfriend. It is admirable in a way, but also very naïve. Even if you ran away now, you would never make it out alive. As you can clearly see, you are outnumbered.”

San heard whispering from the others behind him but was too riled up and scared to make out what they were discussing. He prayed that it was some kind of genius plan. That was the only thing that could get them out of this situation.

San scoffed. “Like we’d have to run from a bunch of lunatic groundhogs.”

He hoped to distract them long enough to come up with something, just like in the movies Wooyoung had showed him in the past.

“The alternative will not be pleasant. You see, all I need is for someone to tell me what the prophecy says. And your friend Wooyoung is here to do that for me. I am afraid that I cannot release him before that.”

“Take me in exchange for him,” said San without thinking.

“San, no!” Wooyoung yelled, earning a kick from Donovan.

“Shut up!” his former professor spat.

“You are offering yourself in exchange for him?” the New Lord laughed coldly. “It is not a bad offer. Your loyalty is impressive.”

“Don’t listen to him! They’re going to kill all of us if you don’t leave right now! You can still get out of here!” Wooyoung threw in desperately.

“I told you to shut up!” Donovan roared before turning to San. “We have no use for you. You and your pathetic little friends made a grave mistake coming here.”

“You’re the ones who made a grave mistake picking Wooyoung as your target,” San growled back. “We’re not leaving before you hand him over!” San growled back.

That’s when Wooyoung’s uncle Stephan chimed in for the first time, his hands raised in a way that was probably supposed to calm everyone down. “Listen, San. I understand that it is hard for you to fully recognize the good in our cause,” he smiled. “What we’re doing is for the greater good of the wizarding community! And with good things comes sacrifice.”

San couldn’t even think of a response to that bullshit. Stephan truly was a goner. He looked like he was completely convinced that what they were doing was right, that it was normal for him to want to torture his nephew for the ‘greater good of the wizarding community.’ His eyes practically sparkled as he went on and on about his delusional crap.

While Stephan was talking, Jongho leaned forward to San’s ear and whispered, “Keep them talking. When Seonghwa gives the sign, Yunho’s gonna grab Wooyoung and then we dip.”

San gave a light nod as Stephan blabbered on. He could only hope that whatever they had planned was going to work.

“We’re finishing the Dark Lord’s noble work!” Stephan said with his insane enthusiasm. “Don’t you realize how – ”

“Oh yeah? And how are you going to do that?” San improvised, trying to keep the general attention on him as the others continued to whisper behind him. “Do you really believe anyone’s going to buy your blood purity bullshit?”

Stephan chuckled. “Naïve little boy. Just because the Dark Lord has been defeated doesn’t mean that he lost all of his followers. There are still hundreds and thousands of wizards who believe in his cause. They are just too afraid to openly disclose it.”

The whispering behind San had died down, and he could only hope that they had come up with something good. He had no way of asking them. He pretended to listen to Stephan’s rambling, hoping that they would give him the signal soon.

“As I was saying,” Stephan continued, “We’re going to finish what the Dark Lord started and slowly take over – ”

“Enough. We don’t have time for this. It’s time for you to die,” said Donovan, directing his wand at San and the others. “Who wants to go first?”

San bit down on his lip. _Damnit_. How were they going to get themselves out of this mess? Running wasn’t an option as long as those people still had Wooyoung, and it was too late to try to buy more time. San was about to speak up again, but before he could -

“ _Arresto Momentum_!”

The scene in front of them slowed down. It was Seonghwa who had fired the spell, causing Donovan, the New Lord, all those hooded witches and wizards, and even Wooyoung to move in slow motion. Before anyone could grasp what had happened, Yeosang and Mingi, who were still standing to his left and right, fired Stunning Spells at the guards holding onto Wooyoung, causing them to let go of him and slowly fall to the ground. San figured that that was the sign he had been waiting for.

Yunho pushed past Yeosang and lunged toward Wooyoung and quickly lifted him up and before sprinting back to the group.

Unfortunately, Seonghwa’s spell wore off quicker than they had anticipated, and the group of witches and wizards soon realized what was going on. A few of them, including Wooyoung’s uncle, were already running after Yunho, trying to get a hold of him.

“Get them!” the New Lord yelled, not so calm for once, “They know too much, do not let them get away!”

Yunho had barely reached San again when Donovan already took action.

Unfortunately, he seemed to interpret the words ‘do not let them get away’ as ‘kill them.’ San was about to turn around to flee along with Yunho carrying Wooyoung when he saw Donovan point his wand at either Yunho or Wooyoung, San wasn’t sure, and yelled, “ _Avada Kedavra_!”

Everything happened so fast. A jet of green light soared towards them, right through the bunch of hooded people following them. There was nothing San could do - he was still about two meters away from Yunho and Wooyoung. The fear inside of him that his body had almost gotten accustomed to peaked, and he let out a yell.

“NO!”

But it wasn’t San’s yell that sounded through the hall. It was Stephan’s.

He had jumped forward and thrown himself between Wooyoung and Donovan. He had taken the lethal hit in Wooyoung’s stead before falling to the ground.

San saw Wooyoung’s eyes widen with horror, but they didn’t have time to stop. Stephan was dead. And they would be too if they didn’t run.

Luckily Yunho seemed to have come to the same conclusion and slung Wooyoung over his shoulder and ran.

They ran back down the long shelves of prophecy records, speeding towards the door they had come from. Yunho was running ahead with a pained and disturbed looking Wooyoung draped over his shoulder and San trailing behind him. Yeosang, Mingi, Seonghwa, Hongjoong, and Jongho were a few meters behind them, dodging the spells thrown at them.

If they could only make it back through the Time Room and the Rotating Room, they could find the security guard and have him call help or something.

Yunho reached the door first, pulling it open in an instant and hurriedly waving San inside the Time Room.

Unfortunately, the others seemed to be a lot further behind than San had thought. They were busy trying to fight off some of the hooded people while running, which had probably slowed them down.

San yelled for them to just run and leave those idiots behind, but before they could, four or five hooded wizards had pushed past them and were now going after San and Yunho instead.

“We have to get away from the door, they’re catching up!” San exclaimed.

“But the others! We can’t leave them behind!” Yunho retorted.

“I know! But we don’t have much of a choice!”

Yunho bit his lip in conflict for a split second. The footsteps of those five wizards were getting closer and closer by the second. “Alright fine, let’s run then!”

“You go first,” San added. “Get some distance between Wooyoung and those people first, he’s their main target. I’ll hold them up for a while.”

“But San, what if – ”

“I can handle it, just go!”

The hooded people barged through the door and Yunho finally ran, leaving San to deal with them. San raised his wand and started to use everything he’d learned about offensive magic against these people.

He just hoped that that hadn’t been the last time he’d see his friends.

**Sunday, December 4th. 01:48AM. Ministry of Magic, Department of Mysteries, Hall of Prophecies. Kang Yeosang.**

“Keep going! There’s another way out!” Yeosang ordered as he, Hongjoong, Mingi, Seonghwa, and Jongho approached the door San and Yunho had disappeared through. “We’ll be surrounded if we go through there!”

He remembered from San’s map that there was a door to a huge chamber somewhere beyond the door leading to the Time Room that could take them back to the Rotating Room. They just had to find the right door that would lead them there while also dodging all the spells their followers were sending after them.

Even though his lungs were screaming at him to finally stop running at full speed, Yeosang managed to turn around to knock out one or two of those hooded people with _Petrificus Totalus,_ the spell that seemed to work the best with Yeosang.

Jongho however was doing an even better job at keeping them at bay. He was last in their group, running about two meter behind Yeosang, but he constantly blocked incoming spells from reaching the others and fended off knocked out any attacker that came too close to them. Since they had separated from Yunho, Wooyoung, and San, Jongho had knocked out about two thirds of the people following them, leaving only around seven more people left to follow them. Yeosang couldn’t help but admire his offensive magic skill.

The only one Jongho seemed to have trouble getting rid of was Professor Donovan, who also blocked every spell he hit him with. It was a constant back and forth between the two, attacking and blocking, attacking and blocking again.

Donovan didn’t seem to like being countered by a teen wizard at all. He looked like he got madder and madder with every step he took. His expression was dark and full of hatred when he finally seemed to have enough of Jongho.

“ _Sectumsempra_!” he yelled, and before Jongho could mutter a defensive incantation, Yeosang saw blood splatter through the air as Jongho stumbled to the ground.

Yeosang gasped out loud. Hongjoong, Seonghwa, and Mingi didn’t seem to have noticed it as they were a few meters ahead of them, but Yeosang stopped in his tracks, his heart beating with fear and shock as he stared at Jongho’s shaking figure.

Some of the witches and wizards following them had continued to run after Hongjoong, Seonghwa and Mingi, while some others – including Donovan – had turned around to head back to the Time Room in order to catch Wooyoung, who was probably their top priority anyway. Another two guys had also stopped running, like Yeosang, and instead showed a nasty grin. They seemed to want to finish Jongho and Yeosang off for good before following their people.

Luckily, Yeosang was faster than them.

“ _Stupefy_ ,” he yelled and knocked out the guy on the left before doing the same to the other one. He then turned around to Jongho, who was twitching with pain.

There was so much blood.

Yeosang fell to his knees and scrambled towards him, shaking with increasing hysteria.

Jongho groaned out in pain. He had turned paler than ever, holding his right shoulder with his now blood-stained hand.

“Jongho, no…” Yeosang breathed, “no, this can’t be…”

Jongho didn’t say anything. He just lay flat on the cold ground, his chest rapidly rising and sinking as he tried to bite back the pain. He turned even paler with the effort it cost him.

It took Yeosang a couple of seconds to calm his own breathing before he managed to get a hold of himself. He needed to organize his thoughts. If he wasn’t going to help Jongho, nobody was.

“I can fix this,” he mumbled, “I’m gonna fix this. It’s gonna be okay. Just… just focus on breathing,” he told both himself and Jongho, who nodded weakly and seemed to calm down a little.

Yeosang then fumbled around for his wand that he didn’t even realize he had dropped. When he finally found it, he pointed it at

“ _Diffindo_ ” he mumbled, carefully moving the tip of his wand over the area where he assumed the injury to be. He cut through the blood-soaked fabric of his robes, trying in vain to stop his hands from shaking. Jongho had trouble keeping his eyes open throughout the process.

Panicked, Yeosang gave Jongho’s cheek a light slap. “No!” he exclaimed. “Stay with me, Jongho. Don’t you dare fall asleep!”

Jongho gave a weak groan but did as he was told.

When Yeosang removed the now cut off sleeve of his sleeve, his heart almost stopped beating. There were two deep cuts across Jongho’s shoulder. It was as if he’d been slashed with a sword. One of them went from his right collarbone all the way down to just below his arm while the other one went right across his shoulder and upper arm. There was blood everywhere, dark and hot as it slowly started to seep across the tiled floor around him.

Yeosang only stared at it for a few seconds, his heart beating fast. He was glad that Jongho didn’t ask how bad it was because, from the looks of it, it was _very_ bad. The cuts looked so deep, Yeosang had to wonder whether his bones were affected as well.

A pained whine from Jongho caused him to finally snap out of it. He couldn’t allow himself to hesitate any longer. If Yeosang didn’t recall everything he’d ever learned about healing spells right now, Jongho would most likely lose his arm… or worse.

Yeosang took a deep, shaky breath. His hand still trembling, he lifted his wand to the injury and mumbled, “ _Tergeo_.”

Yeosang’s wand siphoned off most of the blood surrounding the wound, allowing him to get a better look at it for a few seconds before even more blood streamed down his shoulder.

Jongho’s usually warm complexion had now turned as pale as the white tiles on the ground, and his soft features were scrunched up in pain. He kept his eyes open, but he was still on the brink of passing out. “Am I going to die down here?”

“No, don’t even say that. You can’t. I’m not going to let you,” Yeosang replied as he continued to remove the blood from the wound. It kept going and going, and Yeosang decided that he had to come up with a better method if he didn’t want Jongho to bleed out.

He then remembered the small flask of wound-cleaning solution in his pocket and hastily rummaged through it before finally pulling it out. Jongho winced a little when he poured it over the cuts.

“Sorry,” Yeosang said and repeated, “ _Tergeo_.”

Jongho’s breathing had calmed down a lot and he was a lot more relaxed than a few minutes ago. “It’s okay… you’re… doing great,” he mumbled quietly. He was starting to get drowsy again, his eyes falling shut every few seconds.

Yeosang briefly put a hand on his cheek. “Please, Jongho,” he said desperately, “Stay with me. Just a little longer. I’m… almost done.”

It was a lie. It would take Yeosang at least ten more minutes to fix him up enough for him to get up. He just needed to keep Jongho from passing out until then.

“Talk to me about something,” Jongho requested weakly.

“What? What would I talk about in a situation like this?”

“I don’t know, anything.”

Yeosang didn’t know whether the effects of the Time Room were still affecting him somehow, but the only thing that came to his mind were the regrets he had about everything that had happened the past week. Everything he’d done and said.

“It’s true that when we first kissed, I only did it because I was really drunk and you were right there and you were really sweet…” he started, “but after that, I always did it as an in-the-heat-of-the-moment kind of thing without really thinking about it. I was so stressed and sad and preoccupied… and you were there for me every time,” he rambled on as he used a rather simple incantation to fix the sprain in Jongho’s collarbone.

“Yeosang…” Jongho breathed, but Yeosang was so shaken up that he barely heard him.

“I-I mean, I really didn’t mean to use you as a distraction or anything. I did kiss you because I wanted to… but I just couldn’t help but feel that it wasn’t the right thing to do when my best friend was missing, you know?” Yeosang continued and wordlessly used _Episkey_ to start healing up the cuts, though it wasn’t all that effective. It was a spell normally used for smaller injuries like paper cuts and split lips, but Yeosang couldn’t think of a more efficient spell right now. It was better than nothing.

“Yeosang...”

Yeosang casted _Episkey_ again, slowly beginning to see a little bit of progress. “And when we talked about it at breakfast this morning, or well, yesterday morning, I didn't mean that I don't like you like that or anything because I actually really do, but I just don't have good experiences with relationships,” he rambled on as Jongho lifted his healthy arm to put on Yeosang's right cheek.

"Yeosang, please. It’s… it’s no use. You need to find the others and..." he started, his voice sounding rough and weak.

Yeosang frantically shook his head as used _Episkey_ once more. “Stop it! I’m not going to leave you here! I can fix this.”

“But what if...”

Yeosang interrupted him by pressing a quick kiss to his lips. “End of discussion!” Yeosang said, a tear running down his cheek. Maybe he would've wiped it away if his hands weren't covered in Jongho’s blood. “I’m going to get us out of here, even if I have to carry you on my back while fighting a hundred of those cult people by myself at the same time.”

Jongho managed a faint smile.

“ _Ferula_ ,” said Yeosang as he let the magical bandage wrap itself around Jongho’s shoulder. Jongho hissed at the pain at first, but he seemed to ease up a bit by the time Yeosang finished.

It wasn't an optimal solution. The cuts were still pretty deep and Yeosang didn't have the equipment or the knowledge to make it disappear completely. He couldn't risk making it worse by using spells he couldn't cast properly. He just hoped that it was enough to at least get them out of here and back to the castle. “I'll get us out of here somehow, I promise.”

Jongho was still pale and clearly in pain, but he nodded anyway. “Okay.”

“Do you think you can stand?” Yeosang asked carefully.

“I’ll try.”

Though it caused all the color to disappear from his face, Jongho did manage to get back to his feet, leaning onto Yeosang with his healthy arm wrapped around his shoulders.

They stepped over the two guys Yeosang had knocked out earlier and returned to the main hallway of the Hall of Prophecies.

They couldn’t go very fast, so Yeosang had to check the area first to make sure nobody was there. Running into those cult people would mean the end for both of them. Yeosang kept his wand clutched in his hand as he tried to navigate them back to where they’d come from. They could only hope that they would manage to find the others somehow.

**Sunday, December 4th. 01:59AM. Ministry of Magic, Department of Mysteries, Death Chamber. Park Seonghwa.**

“ _Stupefy!_ ”

Seonghwa barely dodged the other wizard’s attack before countering with the same spell. He missed.

“ _Expelliarmus!_ ” the man then yelled, and before Seonghwa could do anything to counter his attack, he was knocked back and fell to the hard ground as his wand flew through the air.

A stinging pain erupted in his wrist, but he didn’t have time to worry about that now. He was wandless and Mingi and Hongjoong were busy fighting off two other guys. Seonghwa gulped and tried to scoot away.

The man grinned evilly and pointed his wand right at Seonghwa’s chest. “Any last words, kid?” he snarled.

Seonghwa desperately looked around for help, but Hongjoong was fighting two guys of his own and Mingi was nowhere to be seen.

_Darn it._

Was this it? He hadn’t expected his life to end on a cold stone floor far beneath the ground somewhere.

With an irritated growl, Mingi appeared behind the guy and whipped him around by grabbing his shoulder. He was caught off guard and Mingi used the opportunity to punch him in the face.

He fell to the ground and didn’t get back up.

They then heard another thump as Hongjoong took out the last hooded opponent.

Mingi shook out the hand he had used to punch that wizard in the face. “Another close call. I hate this,” he panted. He then helped Seonghwa up and handed him his wand.

“Thanks,” Seonghwa finally brought forth, looking down at the unconscious wizard.

“Don’t worry about it,” Mingi waved off, kneading the hand he’d used to knock him out.

Hongjoong came over to them, dusting off his robes and regarding Seonghwa with a worried look. “You okay?”

Seonghwa nodded and rubbed his aching wrist. “Yeah, I think so.”

“Great,” said Mingi, “but where the hell are we?”

They’d been so busy with running and fighting that they didn’t even realize where they had ended up.

Seonghwa looked around. They were in a large room with a ceiling even higher than that of the Hall of Prophecies. In the center of the room was a sunken stone pit that Seonghwa estimated to be around twenty feet deep. Stone benches ran all around the room, descending in steep steps toward a raised stone platform in the center of the pit. There was an ancient crumbling stone archway on that stone platform, unsupported by any surrounding wall. This archway was hung with a tattered black curtain that fluttered very slightly as though it had just been blown by a faint wind, although the air in the room was still and cool.

“This is the Death Chamber, devoted to the study of death,” Seonghwa explained. He remembered the day he and San had taken a peek into this room while testing out the different doors of the Rotating Room last Wednesday. Now that he was really in here, the room felt a lot colder and creepier than it had back then.

“Lovely,” Hongjoong commented, his voice dripping with its usual sarcasm. The cold air made him to wrap his robes tighter around his small body. “We have to find the others. How do we get back to the meeting spot?”

Seonghwa sighed. “I’m… not sure. The Death Chamber has dozens of doors and Yeosang has the map that would show is which door leads back to the Rotating Room…”

“Great… I guess it’s trial and error then,” said Mingi. He sounded eager to get out of this place as soon as possible. He and Hongjoong started to make their way to one of the many doors the room offered, their wands still out and ready to take on anything they would find behind them.

Seonghwa wanted to follow them, but something kept him glued to his spot. He just couldn’t take his eyes off the veil in the center of the room. It was like something was drawing him to it. There were even whispers coming from it, but Seonghwa couldn’t make out what they were saying.

Without noticing he started to walk towards it, and the closer he got, the louder and clearer the voices became.

He needed to get closer. He needed to hear what they had to say.

“Seonghwa…?” asked Mingi, but Seonghwa barely heard him over the voices.

“What are they saying?” Seonghwa muttered as he continued to walk towards the Veil.

“What? Nobody’s saying anything,” said Mingi.

Seonghwa didn’t stop to turn around to him. His feet just kept carrying him toward the veil. “Those whispers. Can’t you hear them?”

“Dude, where are you going? There are no whispers,” said Mingi as he grabbed Seonghwa’s arm. “Don’t get close to that thing it might be dangerous,” he reasoned.

Seonghwa resisted. It was like something drew him towards it, like he really needed to touch it just once.

Mingi now grabbed both of his arms to pull him away. “Dammit, help me out here, Hongjoong!”

But Hongjoong was frozen in place. He simply stood there, staring into the darkness somewhere behind the huge stone arch.

Seonghwa started to feel like the room temperature had dropped immensely, and the urge to get closer to the veil was replaced by something else. Something much darker.

He stopped struggling against Mingi’s grip as the coldness crept up his body. An eerie and unnatural coldness that gave him the shivers all the way down to his bones. As if all the warmth in the world had disappeared.

Mingi seemed to experience the same thing. He let go of Seonghwa in order to rub his arms and looked around uneasily. “What the hell is going on here?”

Seonghwa didn’t respond and followed Hongjoong’s widened eyes. He couldn’t recognize anything in the darkness at first.

And then he saw them.

Tall figures gliding across the floor, floating a few inches above the ground, and exuding a cold and dark aura. Their long black cloaks covered most of their decayed looking bodies and greyed faces. They were like undead, decomposing corpses.

Dementors.

Hongjoong was closest to them, but he didn’t move an inch, his wand was uselessly clutched in his hand as they inched closer.

Mingi and Seonghwa reacted at the same time. They ran over to him, taking on a back-to-back fighting stance next to Hongjoong. They were about to run for one of the doors that would allow them to escape this room, but before they knew it, the three of them were surrounded.

“Fuck! What now?!” asked Mingi. Hongjoong didn’t react, and Seonghwa looked around, trying to come up with something.

There were so many of them. A hundred? Five hundred? Maybe a thousand? Seonghwa couldn’t tell. All he saw was an abundance of Dementors closing in on them. They were trapped.

“Stay behind me,” Seonghwa replied, “I-I’ll take care of this somehow.”

Mingi obliged and grabbed Hongjoong’s hand, pulling him behind himself and Seonghwa. He kept his wand raised, even though he couldn’t do much with it as he most likely didn’t know how to summon a Patronus. It was up to Seonghwa to do that.

But unfortunately, Seonghwa only knew the theory behind the Patronus Charm. He had never actually casted it.

He tried to recall everything he knew about the charm, tried to hold on to the happiest memory that came to mind. His hand closed tighter around his wand and he gathered all of his mental strength to summon his Patronus.

“ _Expecto Patronum!_ ” Seonghwa shouted, but nothing happened.

It was a lot easier said than done. The closer the Dementors got, the more Seonghwa felt them drain every good feeling, every happy memory of his, leaving him with nothing but fear and emptiness. It was overwhelming. The darkness, the pain, the despair. Every negative emotion he had ever felt came back to him and hit him with full force.

 _No._ He couldn't give in. He had to hold on to something happy. It was the only thing that could get them out of here.

Seonghwa tried again, “ _Expecto Patronum!_ ”

At first, nothing but a string of silver light came out of his wand, causing the Dementors to hesitate for a moment. Then it evolved into a beautiful white mare that galloped around them in protective circles, forcing the Dementors to back away a little.

Seonghwa felt Mingi cling to his free arm as he controlled the mare.

Sticking to the memory of his father was hard. The will to just give up and stop resisting got stronger and stronger the more Dementors appeared. He could practically feel his power get drained as he felt his friends shivering behind him.

But he had no choice. If he gave up now, it would mean the end not only for him, but also for Mingi and Hongjoong.

He needed a way to get them out of here and he needed it now.

His eyes fell on a door about five meters away from them. The way there was blocked by dementors but if he only managed to keep them at a distance, the three of them might be able to make it there.

Seonghwa started to move towards it, letting his mare continue its protective circle around them. Mingi tried to drag Hongjoong along, but the Hufflepuff still wouldn’t move. He was only staring at the Dementors with fear, frozen in place.

“Come on, Hongjoong! We need to get out!” Mingi yelled, desperation and panic laced in his voice.

Hongjoong opened his mouth but no words came out. That’s when Mingi grabbed him around the waist and threw him over his shoulder, carrying him towards the door.

Seonghwa did his best to uphold his Patronus as they slowly approached the door. The cold was almost unbearable. The dementors had gotten so close that they were nothing more than about two feet away from them, their slimy-looking greyish hands reaching out for them. The rattling sound of their breath made Seonghwa’s skin crawl. It was as if they were trying to suck more than air out of the room.

There was no knowing where that door led, but whichever place it was going to be, Seonghwa could only pray that it was better than this one.

**Sunday, December 4th. 02:07AM. Ministry of Magic, Department of Mysteries, Time Room. Choi San.**

“Quick! After them! I’m going to kill each and every one of you if you let them get away!” San heard Donovan yell at his minions as they trailed after San and Yunho.

Yunho had done a good job getting some distance between them and their followers, allowing them to make it to the door leading back to the Rotating Room first. San had knocked out about a dozen of them before he’d decided to catch up to Yunho and Wooyoung.

He had underestimated the amount of people the New Lord seemed to have on his side already.

Once they had barged into the Rotating Room and slammed the door behind them shut, the room began to spin again, granting them only a few seconds to breathe.

“What now?” San panted as the room slowly stopped spinning. Much to his dismay, the marks Seonghwa had left on the doors when they had entered had now disappeared, leaving them no clue about which door the exit was. “Shit, we have to get back to the Atrium somehow.”

Yunho shifted Wooyoung, who he was still carrying on his back. Wooyoung had been slipping in and out of consciousness during the chase, and his arms were only loosely holding onto Yunho’s shoulders. “But the others are still somewhere back there, we can’t just dip!”

“Well, we can’t really wait for them either now, can we?” San replied frantically. “We’ve got around twenty more delusionals on our tail and they could barge in here any second!”

Yunho gnawed on his lip as he anxiously looked around while considering San’s words.

“We don’t have much of a choice,” San told him, feeling just as worried for the others as Yunho looked. “We need to get out of here though…”

Realizing that they had no time to think about this any longer, Yunho sighed and nodded. “Fine. Maybe they even made it out first. But how do we get out of here? Seonghwa’s marks are gone…”

San looked around in panic. They didn’t have enough time to try out every single door. But every door looked the same. Was there really no other way?

“You have to… ask it…” Wooyoung brought forth in a weak voice.

Yunho turned his head to the side. “What?”

“Ask what?” San replied, now turning to Wooyoung as well.

“Where’s… the exit?” Wooyoung said, his voice sounding like every word cost him a great deal of effort.

Luckily enough, a door right across from them sprang open, revealing the corridor that would lead them back to the Atrium.

Yunho let out a sigh of relief. “You genius!”

Wooyoung didn't react as he had lost consciousness once again, making it harder for Yunho to keep him on his back.

San bit his lip. “Alright, here's the plan,” he told Yunho. “I’m staying behind just like earlier, and you two - ”

Yunho shook his head. “No way. If you’re going to stay here and fight, I’m not going either.”

“No. We’re not doing this again. You have to get Wooyoung back to safety at all costs,” he insisted. “He’s the one they’re really after. You can’t defend yourself properly with him on your back and they most likely won’t hesitate to kill you in order to get to him.”

“But – ”

“You know I can handle it! I’ll hold them up here until the others show up while you go first. It’s the best way!”

“I don’t know, San. It’s too dangerous! You barely made it out last time as well. I can’t leave without you!”

“Yes, you can, and you have to! Please, Yunho. We have no time to discuss this!”

Yunho still looked reluctant, but in the face of time running out, he finally agreed. “Geez, fine! I’ll take him up to the Atrium and tell the security guy to call for help. But I’ll come right back down here as soon as I did!”

“Deal,” San said, “Now, go.”

Yunho hesitated for a little longer and looked back and forth between San and the exit.

“Go!” San yelled.

And so Yunho ran once again. He made it through the door that led to the elevator just as the hooded people – including Professor Donovan and the New Lord himself – burst through a door to San’s right.

There were more people than San had anticipated. Ten? Fifteen maybe? And all of their wands were pointed at him.

San swallowed the fear that started to well up inside of him and fought back with everything he had.

But he quickly learned that everything he had wasn’t enough. There were too many of them.

He was forced to spend most of the time defending himself and blocking spells instead of attacking. He managed to stun three or four of them, but he was still hopelessly outnumbered, and those people sure as hell didn’t hold back.

San had at least managed to keep them away from him until one of his opponents casted an unknown spell that brushed his arm, causing a sharp, burning pain to errupt where the orange jet of light had touched him. San instinctively reached for the throbbing wound, letting his enemies catch him off-guard.

San saw the two jets of light coming, but he wasn’t fast enough.

When both Stunning Spells hit him at the same time, his knees gave out. He fell to the ground and his body just wouldn’t listen to him when he tried to get back to his feet.

He heard a cold laugh before his wand was charmed out of his hands as he was lifted off the ground and pinned to the wall behind him by an invisible force.

“And so the game has come to an end,” the New Lord grinned, clicking his tongue sarcastically. “Do not be too disappointed. Your chances were slim to begin with. I appreciate the effort, though. It’s hard to find a victim quite as brave and resistant as you these days.”

San struggled against the invisible force, but it was no use. “Go to hell,” he said through gritted teeth.

“Shut your mouth,” spat Donovan, but the New Lord simply chuckled as he stepped closer to San, examining him as if he was mere merchandise in a shop window.

It disgusted San how calm he was. It was like this whole thing was nothing but a joke to him, like nothing anybody did meant anything to him. Fearless. Cold. Cruel.

“Tell me, David,” the New Lord spoke up, “what was his name again?”

San glared at the man he’d addressed. Wooyoung’s professor. A dark wizard. A murderer. San couldn’t believe he was teaching in Hogwarts, a place people believed to be one of the safest places in the world.

Donovan glared back. “San. Choi San,” he said while looking right into his eyes.

“How intriguing. It was oddly brave of you to come here to try and save him,” the New Lord said slowly as San struggled against the invisible forces keeping him trapped. He wanted nothing more than to strangle Donovan. “Brave. But also incredibly foolish.”

The New Lord regarded San from head to toe with an odd sense of fascination and interest in his cold eyes. San was going to strangle him as well.

“What do you want with him, Vassily?” Donovan asked impatiently. “He’s worthless. The boy is still escaping, and he knows the prophecy. We should kill the spares and go after him instead.”

San struggled harder against the invisible forces restricting him, but it was no use.

“He is not worthless, David,” the New Lord replied without taking his eyes off San. “He might be exactly what we need. He could make a loyal follower.”

“What are you talking about? He’s just a naive kid who thought he could save his little boyfriend,” Donovan said, his lips stretching into a menacing smirk.

“Thought?” San laughed. “I did save him. Or do you see him anywhere?”

Donovan's smirk transformed into a warning glare as he approached San until he was right in front of him, his wand pointed right at him. “Watch your words, kid,” he growled, poking his wand into San's neck as he spoke. “I could kill you in an instant.”

“Then why don't you just do it?” San growled back. It probably wasn't one of his best ideas to challenge a man who he knew wouldn't hesitate to end his life, but all sense of reason left him when he stared at Donovan's face. “Or do you need to ask Lordie for permission first.”

Donovan’s features grew even darker and he bore the tip of his wand deeper into San's skin. He opened his mouth to retort something but was interrupted by one of the many doors in the circular room.

San looked over to see Hongjoong, Seonghwa, and Mingi stumbling out of whatever room it led to, their wands raised and ready to fight.

San had never felt more relieved to see them.

“ _Expelliarmus_!” Mingi yelled before any of the cult people could react. Donovan's wand flew from his all the way across the room to where Mingi and the other two stood.

Now wandless, Donovan angrily turned away from San and was about to pick up San’s wand that was still laying on the floor, when Seonghwa exclaimed, “ _Petrificus Totalus_!”

Donovan’s arms and legs snapped together, and he fell to the ground, stiff as a log of wood.

All of that had happened in the matter of a few seconds and was followed by a sheer chaos of different spells zooming through the air.

The guy who had upheld the spell that kept San pinned to the wall must've gotten distracted as well, causing San to slide down the wall as the invisible forces released him. San didn’t hesitate to scramble over to where his wand lay next to Donovan’s inert body as soon as he’d regained his footing.

The fighting continued, a mess of different spells and curses flying around everywhere, bouncing of the walls and causing people to drop to the ground. San quickly lost track of everything that was going on as he fought.

He kept eyeing the open door that Yunho and Wooyoung had disappeared through. They could just dip and get out of here, but Jongho and Yeosang were still nowhere to be seen. Had they truly gotten out before Yunho, San and Wooyoung had reached the Rotating Room? But how could they have passed them? If San remembered the floor plan he and Seonghwa had drawn together correctly, the Time Room was the one direct pathway from the Hall of Prophecies back to the elevators. No. There was no way those two weren’t still back there.

Lost his thoughts, San almost failed to dodge the green light somebody had shot in his direction, but luckily, he was quick enough and swiftly defeated the attacker. He looked around to see Hongjoong and Seonghwa fighting back to back on the other side of the room, Mingi handling two guys on his own somewhere to San’s left and somewhere behind him…

San almost laughed out loud in relief. One of the doors behind him had opened, and the two figures who snuck through were none other than Yeosang and Jongho.

“They made it,” he breathed out just as the two of them took cover behind Hongjoong and Seonghwa. San didn’t waste any more time. “Guys,” he yelled. “it’s time to get out of here!”

He didn’t need to tell them twice. Yeosang was first to make it through the open door that led to the elevator, dragging Jongho along with him. Seonghwa and Hongjoong were quick to follow, leaving only Mingi, San, and about five more hooded attackers – including the New Lord – behind.

San ran for the exit as well, and Mingi was right behind him. San had just made it through the door when he heard Mingi yelp behind him, causing him to whip around.

His heart froze in his chest. The New Lord had grabbed Mingi by the robes and pulled him back, holding a wand to his throat and smiling evilly. San raised his wand at him, but he had no clue what to do.

“Drop the wand if you want him to live,” he threatened, digging the tip of his wand into Mingi’s skin.

San watched as his best friend’s eyes widened with fear, but he didn’t say a word. He didn’t drop his wand either.

“All you have to do is agree to join me and I’ll let him go,” the New Lord added.

This crap again.

San hesitated for only a moment before he said, “Never.”

And the next thing he did happened so fast that San himself wasn’t even completely sure how he did it.

He lunged forward, grabbed Mingi’s arm to pull him away from the New Lord and yelled, “ _Aguamenti!_ ”

San’s wand produced a jet of water so forceful that it knocked the dumbfounded New Lord backwards, causing him to stumble into his own people who had gathered up behind him. The stream of water was so strong that it quickly started to flood the entire ground with water. With a flick of his wand, San used that water to form a liquid wall that kept the New Lord and his people inside the Rotating Room. Angry screams filled the room, but the liquid wall successfully kept them and their curses away from San and Mingi.

Mingi took that opportunity to close the door, knowing that it would cause the walls inside to spin and trap their enemies inside at least for a while.

The two of them then turned on their heels and sprinted down the hallway as fast as they could, joining the others in the elevator. Yeosang mashed the button for Level Eight as soon as they had all gotten inside, and the golden shutters rattled close, allowing them to leave that awful hallway behind.

Nobody said anything for a moment as they were all to busy catching their breaths.

San let himself slump backwards and leaned against the elevator wall, panting.

“Fuck,” he said, addressing Mingi, Hongjoong, and Seonghwa. “You really saved my ass back there. Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it, bro,” Mingi told him while Seonghwa waved it off and patted San’s shoulder. Mingi then reached into his robes and handed both Hongjoong and Seonghwa a Chocolate Frog before devouring one himself.

They all looked horribly wrecked, their faces covered in little cuts and bruises, their hairs messy, and their entire bodies weak and tired from running and fighting. Nobody looked as bad as Jongho, though.

His complexion was unhealthily pale, the right sleeve of his robes was missing to reveal a bandage wrapped around his shoulder and upper arm. He was holding onto Yeosang for dear life, his left arm draped over the other's shoulder. Both of them were covered in blood.

“What happened to you two?” asked Hongjoong. “You were right behind us in the Hall of Prophecies.”

“Professor Donovan,” Yeosang said darkly. “He used _Sectumsempra_ on Jongho when we were running away before he went after San, Yunho, and Woo,” he explained. His eyes then widened with realization. “Where are those two anyway? They’re not still back there, are they?”

“No, they went first,” San reassured him. “I told Yunho to leave me behind so he could get Wooyoung out of here.”

Mingi slapped his arm. “Are you insane? Those guys almost killed you!”

“What else was I gonna do? I couldn’t let them get to Wooyoung in that state he was in!” San retorted defensively.

“This isn’t the time, guys!” Seonghwa reasoned. “We need to find Yunho and Wooyoung and get out of here as fast as possible. We don't have much time before they’ll start to come after us again.”

“He’s right.” Hongjoong chimed in. “They won’t be held up by the water forever.”

“Atrium,” the cool female voice announced.

San wasn’t prepared for whatever they were going to be met by behind those golden shutters, but he had no choice but to keep his wand ready for anything that awaited them in the Atrium.

The golden shutters rattled back open and revealed Yunho, fighting six wizards while Wooyoung sat behind the security desk protecting him from all the curses flying through the air between Yunho and his attackers.

But they didn’t seem to be a part of the New Lord's following. They looked different.

Instead of hooded cult robes, they wore grey formal robes with dark blue ties and matching bowlers.

Judging by the badges on their chests, San figured that they must’ve been workers of the Ministry. Maybe a security squad or something.

Unfortunately, they didn’t seem like they understood what was truly going on, and they didn’t leave much room for conversation. They tried to overpower Yunho, probably thinking that he was the source of threat, so Yunho had no choice but to defend Wooyoung and himself. From the looks of it, he’d done a good job of holding them at a distance until now, but he was visibly struggling to keep up the strength to continue fighting.

While the others rushed to back up Yunho, San ran over to Wooyoung, kneeling down in front of him. Wooyoung was slightly hunched over, holding his side that seemed to be injured somehow. He was on the brink of passing out.

San quickly checked him for any visible wounds, but he didn’t see any blood.

“Wooyoung, baby, are you okay? Hold on a little longer. I’ll get you out of here, I promise,” San told him hastily and let a hand run through his hair before getting back up to support the others against the Ministry’s security squad or whoever they were.

That’s when Wooyoung grabbed him by the robes, causing him to turn back. “No… don’t leave me here, please,” he said.

San met Wooyoung’s desperate eyes and got back behind the security desk. “Okay, I won’t,” he replied.

San looked around himself, trying to come up with a way to just get out of there as quickly as possible. The telephone cell they’d entered through was too far away, and there were far too many Ministry people in the way. He let his eyes scan the room even further, until he spotted the solution right behind them.

“Guys, the Floo Networks! Quick!” he addressed the others as he helped Wooyoung to his feet. He could barely stand.

Reacting to San’s prompt, the others started to back away from the fight and moved toward the fireplaces as San got Wooyoung on his back to carry him.

“We just have to make it back to Hogwarts!” Yunho shouted as he ran.

“But where exactly?” asked Mingi, stunning one of the Ministry workers that had trailed after him.

“My mother’s office!” Seonghwa yelled as he disappeared in the green flames.

Smart move. Those guys had no idea who Seonghwa’s mother was and wouldn’t be able to follow them.

San backed away from the fight and fired _Stupefy_ at a witch that was trying to curse him and deflected another spell he couldn’t identify. Then got into the fireplace with Wooyoung on his back, and their destination on his mind.

Next thing he knew, he was spinning in place at a rapid pace, causing him to close his eyes in order to not get nauseous. He made sure to keep Wooyoung close in order not to lose him at some random fireplace they would never find again.

When San finally stopped spinning and reopened his eyes, he found himself in the fireplace of the headmistress’ office. He quickly stumbled out of the green flames and into the room.

Seonghwa was already here, and the others also started to pour into the room behind San one by one. First Yunho, then Yeosang and Jongho.

“What in the world…?” Headmistress Park had risen from her seat, looking at them wide-eyed and bewildered. Her desk was decked in all kinds of parchments, indicating that she’d been working late. “Mr. Choi, Mr. Park… is that Mr. Jung? What are all of you doing in my office in the middle of the night? Where were you?! Explain yourselves!”

“There’s no time to explain!” San said and turned to leave, but she hurried around her desk and blocked his way out.

“You stay right here, Mr. Choi,” she demanded. “You will explain this!”

“No, mom!” Seonghwa interfered heatedly before turning to San, Yeosang, and Yunho. “You just go and get Wooyoung to the Hospital Wing,” said Seonghwa. “I'll take care of this.”

He didn’t have to tell them twice.

San couldn’t care less about Headmistress Park at that moment. He hadn’t expected her to be in her office at that hour, but it didn’t even matter what she was yelling after them or whether she was going to dispel them or not.

All that his mind could grasp right now was that he needed to get Wooyoung to the Hospital Wing as soon as possible.

So, without sparing the headmistress another glance, San pushed past her and left the office with an unconscious Wooyoung on his back. He heard Yunho following him, most likely helping Yeosang take Jongho to the Hospital Wing as well.

San picked up the pace when he heard Wooyoung let out a pained groan. His entire body was aching and hurrying up the Great Stairs cost him every last bit of energy he had left, but San kept going nonetheless.

When they finally reached the Hospital Wing, they were immediately greeted by a very confused Nurse Vane.

Luckily, she wasn’t the type to ask questions about the reason why a bunch of injured students had burst into the Hospital Wing in the middle of a Sunday night, and San had never appreciated that more than right now.

He lay Wooyoung down on one of the free beds before saying, “ _Accio chair_ ,” causing the nearest chair to slide over to him. San took a seat next to Wooyoung’s bed and waited for Nurse Vane to return from her office, where she was most likely rumbling through her supply shelf of healing potions.

Yunho and Yeosang helped Jongho onto a bed across from Wooyoung’s just as Nurse Vane joined them in order to examine Jongho. He had by far suffered the worst injuries, which was most likely the reason why she had decided to treat him first.

San turned away to look at Wooyoung. He had lost consciousness once again, but he was sweating bullets, keeping his bangs stuck to his forehead as his chest rose and sunk unevenly. San took one of his hands in his as he waited, pressing a light kiss to his knuckles.

After Nurse Vane had gotten Jongho through the worst, she came over to San and Wooyoung, asking a bunch of questions about his injuries. She gave Wooyoung some kind of potion and muttered some incantations that San had never even heard before. He didn’t care as long as they helped.

About half an hour later, Nurse Vane had assigned San, Yeosang, and Yunho to their own beds before giving all of them an extremely sweet-tasting tea and taking care of their minor injuries like cuts and bruises. San hadn’t even noticed that he had injured his right ankle until Nurse Vane had fixed it for him. He thanked her and – much to her dismay – returned right back to Wooyoung’s side as soon as she’d finished treating him.

Mingi, Seonghwa, and Hongjoong showed up a little later, and San couldn’t help but feel relieved that all of them had made it back.

None of them seemed acutely injured. Seonghwa and Hongjoong simply received the same sweet tea from Nurse Vane, and Mingi rejected all the things she offered him in order to go right over to San as soon as he’d entered.

He pulled San into a tight hug. “We made it, bro. We saved him,” he said, his voice full of relief and joy.

That’s when San finally realized that it truly was over. He smiled as he rested his chin on his best friend’s shoulder. “We really did.”

“You’re not injured, are you?” Mingi then asked as soon as he’d pulled back.

San merely shook his head. “No, nothing serious.”

“Me neither,” replied Mingi and bit his lip as if contemplating his next words. “Would you be mad if I left you alone here and checked on… the others?”

Judging by the way Mingi was awkwardly scratching the back of his head, San was pretty sure he had an idea who he meant by ‘the others.’

“Go ahead,” San smiled, “I’ll stay with Wooyoung.”

Mingi nodded and patted San’s shoulder before leaving him alone with Wooyoung.

San’s eyelids were so heavy, but he just couldn’t allow himself to fall asleep until Wooyoung woke up. Instead, he glanced at the wall clock above the high door of the Hospital Wing.

Holy shit. It was almost four in the morning. No wonder he felt so fatigued.

He looked out the windows onto the dark castle grounds bathed in only the silver gloom the moon radiated. The stars made the clear sky look extra beautiful tonight.

San sighed. Despite everything, he still felt better than he had this whole week. Wooyoung was right in front of him, safe and tucked into the warm sheets. He’d saved him just like he’d promised.

And he couldn’t wait for him to wake up again.

That was the last thing San remembered crossing his mind before the tiredness won over him.


	10. Monday, December 5th

**M** **onday, December 5th. 5:02AM. Hogwarts, Hospital Wing. Choi Jongho.**

Jongho woke up feeling like he'd been hit by a truck. His head was throbbing and his mouth felt dry, as if he’d come back from the dead. So, he only stared up at the ceiling for a minute, giving his body some time to regain its senses.

It seemed to be early morning, seeing as the room was still fairly dark, only the warm glimmer of the rising sun dowsing the Hospital Wing in an orange light.

Someone had wrapped Jongho in a thick blanket, making his body feel comfortably warm between the soft sheets, despite the chilly air in the room.

Blinking away the tired feeling that was still tugging at his eyelids, Jongho slowly started to remember why he was here.

He didn’t dare move at first, worried that his shoulder might start hurting again.

Only when Jongho moved his head to look to his right, he noticed that Yeosang was by his side, immersed in a book. He had charmed a little ball of warm light to float next to him, just bright enough to allow him to read.

Jongho smiled to himself. What a nice view to wake up to, he thought.

“I must still be dreaming.”

Yeosang’s head perked up at the sound of Jongho’s voice. He looked at him with widened eyes and quickly put his book down on the nightstand. “You’re awake.”

“Sure am,” Jongho chuckled in response. “What were you reading?”

Yeosang looked over to check the book cover as if he’d already forgotten. “Oh, well, just something about star constellations and lunar phases. I have to hand in my sky chart for Astronomy class tomorrow.”

“Wait, what day is it? How long was I out for?”

“It’s Monday, you were asleep for about twenty-five hours. How are you feeling?”

“I’ve been better,” Jongho replied, “but I’m alright. You?”

Yeosang seemed relieved. “I’m fine.”

“What about the others? And Wooyoung?” Jongho tried to sit up but regretted it instantly. The sharp pain in his shoulder caused him to flinch and bite his lip.

“Don’t worry,” Yeosang said as he gently pushed Jongho back into the pillows. “They’re all okay. Nothing more than a few scratches. And Wooyoung is still asleep. San is with him. Nurse Vane said that he should wake up today.”

Jongho let out a sigh of relief and nodded to himself.

“You should worry about yourself first. Your condition was by far the worst,” Yeosang added, his expression turning worried. “For a moment there I thought… I thought you might…” His words trailed off and he averted his eyes.

Jongho smiled and took Yeosang’s hand in his, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

Yeosang looked down at their hands for a moment, an unreadable expression on his face. His eyes then widened as if he’d suddenly remembered something, and he jumped to his feet.

“What am I doing? I should get Nurse Vane!” he muttered and turned on his heel before Jongho could say anything.

Instead, Jongho looked after him, watching him as he disappeared into the little office Nurse Vane usually stayed in.

Holding Yeosang’s hand was something Jongho had let himself grow far too accustomed to. It was almost pathetic how much he missed his touch mere seconds after he’d let go of him.

 _I just can’t do this. Not right now at least._ Yeosang’s words still rang in Jongho’s head.

It was no use. No matter how much he wanted to get closer to Yeosang, right now just wasn’t the time. Sure, they had managed to get Wooyoung back, but Jongho doubted that much had changed about Yeosang’s view on what was going on between the two of them.

With another sigh, Jongho let his head fall back into the soft pillows.

That’s when Yeosang returned with Nurse Vane.

She gave Jongho some weird-smelling potion to drink – it tasted like liquid rubber – and explained that she’d been able to heal the two deep cuts the Severing Curse had caused, thanks to Yeosang’s immediate help right after it had happened.

“Things could’ve ended badly for you if it wasn’t for your friend here. You should thank him,” she pointed out, “he has an outstanding knowledge of healing magic for a student his age. If he’d used one of those spells incorrectly, you probably would’ve lost your arm – if not your life – after two bone-deep cuts like that.”

She looked genuinely impressed with Yeosang as she patted his shoulder.

His face went bright red and he continued to avoid Jongho’s eyes. “I just did what anyone would’ve done...” he mumbled and couldn’t hide the hint of an embarrassed smile.

Yeosang’s face took on an even deeper shade of red as Nurse Vane continued to praise his ability in more detail. When she finally turned to Jongho again, her smile faded a little and was replaced by her usual seriousness.

“I should let you know however that the wound has left a nasty scar that will probably never fully fade,” she told him. “The only thing that could’ve prevented that would’ve been _Vulnera Sanentur_ , the direct counter spell. But, of course, nobody could expect a student to know how to perform that incantation.”

Jongho only nodded. A scar, huh? He fought off the urge to immediately check whether it actually looked as bad as Nurse Vane had implied it did. Instead, he listened to her explaining to him that he’d have to drink that liquid-rubber-like potion every few hours for today and that he’d be able to return to classes tomorrow.

Jongho nodded and thanked her for her care, and Yeosang sat back down next to him as soon as she’d left.

A slightly awkward silence settled between the two of them until Yeosang cleared his throat. “I’m… um, sorry about the scar thing,” he started before he lowered his voice. “I didn’t wanna say it in front of Nurse Vane, but I do know _Vulnera Sanentur._ I knew how it was cast, but I didn’t dare try it on you back then. You know, in case I make a mistake or something. I couldn’t stand the thought of something even worse happening to you…”

“No, don’t apologize for that,” Jongho replied, shaking his head. “You did what you could, and you ended up saving my arm and potentially my life. I don’t even know how I could ever pay you back for that.”

He then looked away. For some reason, the feeling of guilt was stabbing at his chest.

“It was my own damn fault,” Jongho decided. “I got way ahead of myself. I fought off so many of those people and got overconfident. I thought I could take all of them and totally overestimated Professor Donovan. I’m such an idiot.”

Jongho felt his own features grow dark when he thought about that guy. He couldn’t believe he’d sat in a Divination class taught by a dark wizard for more than three years without noticing anything. He should’ve figured it out somehow, he should’ve known that something was off.

“You’re not an idiot,” said Yeosang softly. “You were strong. And you were good. Professor Donovan was just… a little bit better.”

Jongho smiled. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

Yeosang lightly slapped his healthy arm. “You know what I meant.”

“I got you,” Jongho chuckled. “I’m just playing with you.”

A relieved smile spread on Yeosang’s lips. “You must be feeling better if you can joke around like that again,” he commented.

“Yeah, I’m okay. This rubber-juice really helps,” Jongho replied, lifting up the cup and taking another sip.

Yeosang chuckled as he watched him.

Jongho’s heartbeat picked up when their eyes met. He could swear that Yeosang got a little prettier every time he looked at him. His golden brown hair falling over his forehead, his gorgeous features, his soft lips, his cute vampire-like canine teeth that appeared whenever he smiled, his beautiful brown eyes looking at Jongho with such care – everything about him was breath-taking.

“I really like you, Yeosang,” Jongho blurted out.

Yeosang’s eyes widened for a moment before his smile returned. “I like you too,” he said, “but…”

“But you don’t want a relationship right now because of bad experiences, I know. I just… wanted you to know.”

“I’m really sorry, Jongho. I don’t want to ruin this.”

“It’s okay, really. I get it. It doesn’t have to be now,” Jongho reassured him. “I can wait – or take it slow – whichever you want.”

Gosh, Jongho really lost all of his coolness when it came to Yeosang.

Yeosang laughed. “Taking it slow sounds good. You almost sound like San and his gentleman complex, though.”

“What can I say,” Jongho said with a smile, “I can’t help it. You made me this way.”

Yeosang shook his head and cutely covered his mouth with his hands as they laughed. Once their laughter had died down again, Yeosang’s smile remained.

He took Jongho’s hand once more. “Thanks for understanding me. I know I can be confusing sometimes, especially when it comes to trusting people and such.”

“I’ll prove that you can trust me,” said Jongho, causing Yeosang to press a kiss to the palm of Jongho’s hand that he was holding.

Jongho returned his smile as he let his hand graze Yeosang’s cheek.

“Alright, gentleman. Try to get some more rest. I’ll be right here if you need anything.”

“Yes, Nurse Kang.”

“Shut up.”

**Monday, December 5th. 10:25AM. Hogwarts, Clocktower. Kim Hongjoong.**

Hongjoong let out a sigh for what felt like the hundredth time as he listened to the large clockwork tick away. He sat on one of the wooden platforms behind the enormous clock face, letting his legs dangle off the edge while he rested his arms on the lower railing.

The sunlight filtered through the dusty air, warming up his skin a little bit, even in the cold December air that filled up the Clocktower. Hongjoong was glad to be alone up here, far away from all the other students who were napping away in their classes.

Tiredness lingered on his body. He hadn’t gotten much sleep. Every time he’d tried to close his eyes, those images would appear in front of him clear as day, those damn images he tried so hard to forget.

He’d been fine until the Dementors had shown up, until they’d made him go through all of it again.

Just thinking about it made him dig his nails into his skin.

“There you are.”

Hongjoong jumped at the sudden sound of the voice that had ripped him out of his thoughts.

He didn’t have to turn around to know that it was Seonghwa.

“What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be in class?” Hongjoong asked, hugging his legs to his chest a little tighter.

Seonghwa chuckled. “I could ask you the same.”

Hongjoong said nothing.

“I was looking for you all over the castle… Are you okay?”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?” Hongjoong replied shortly.

Seonghwa hesitated, probably taken aback by how distant Hongjoong was acting.

Hongjoong didn’t know why he was being like this either. It wasn’t Seonghwa’s fault. He had no idea what was going on in Hongjoong’s mind.

After another moment of silence, he heard Seonghwa’s footsteps come closer, the old wooden platform creaking as he sat down beside Hongjoong.

The sweet scent of flowers that always seemed to surround Seonghwa reached Hongjoong’s nose, and somehow it eased his mind a little. It felt like home in a way, as if he was a tiny bit of safety that Hongjoong could grasp on to when he felt this vulnerable.

But ironically, it was exactly this feeling that made Hongjoong feel even more vulnerable in the end.

They stayed quiet for a few minutes, just sitting there, staring at the evermoving clock hands.

“Look, you don’t have to answer this if you don’t want to but… I do have a question for you,” Seonghwa began.

“I keep forgetting how nosey you are,” Hongjoong sighed. “but I suppose I can’t stop you. Ask away.”

“Back in the Death Chamber… Why were you so affected by the Dementors?”

There it was. Hongjoong had already expected Seonghwa to bring this up. The question had basically been written on his lips ever since they had gotten back to Hogwarts.

When Hongjoong didn’t respond, Seonghwa continued. “You were completely frozen in place, I… I’ve never seen you like that before. I was worried,” he said. “I still am.”

Hongjoong closed his eyes. He just couldn’t say it. He couldn’t explain it to Seonghwa if he tried. The words just wouldn’t cross his lips and he couldn’t do anything but turn away.

“Got it. I’ll leave you alone,” Seonghwa said calmly. He didn’t sound angry nor disappointed. “I’m sorry I asked, but I hope you know that… I’m here for you despite everything.”

And with that he got back to his feet, leaving Hongjoong by himself again.

The flowery scent only lingered for a few more seconds until it followed him, and only then Hongjoong realized that maybe, just maybe, he didn’t actually want to be alone.

He scrambled to his feet and turned around. “Hwa, wait!” Hongjoong called after him, but he was already gone. Disappointed, Hongjoong sat back down.

It was better this way. It was better to not put this burden on Seonghwa.

Hongjoong just needed a distraction. And he needed it as soon as possible. He’d just have to find Yunho after morning classes ended.

Yes, it was better this way. At least for now.

**Monday, December 5th. 11:13PM. Hogwarts, Hospital Wing. Choi San.**

The warm sunrays coming in through the tall window shone on San’s face, their brightness causing him to open his eyes and sit up. He looked around the room and stretched his numb arms that he had been resting his head on for the past few hours. He had fallen asleep on the chair next to Wooyoung’s bed, holding his right hand in both of his own.

Wooyoung had been asleep ever since they had reached the Hospital Wing on Sunday night, but Nurse Vane had reassured San multiple times that he was merely exhausted, and that he would wake up as soon as he’d rested enough.

There was nobody else in the room besides the two of them. Nurse Vane had stationed Wooyoung in a different part of the Hospital Wing so he could get enough rest without being disturbed by any of the other patients. She had told San to stay in his own bed, but nothing anyone said could get him to leave Wooyoung’s side right now.

San lightly squeezed Wooyoung’s hand as he regarded him. Wooyoung’s chest rose and sunk as he breathed calmly, his features soft and relaxed. His soft brown hair lay flat on his forehead, slightly messy from everything he’d been through. He still looked a little pale, but Nurse Vane’s magical treatment had at least freed his skin from the cuts and bruises he had sustained in the Department of Mysteries.

San looked down at their intertwined hands. Even though he felt more than relieved to have brought Wooyoung back to safety, he couldn’t shake that hot anger that rose up in him whenever he thought about all the things Donovan had done to him.

He was still out there. Both he and the New Lord were still alive, probably trying to come up with another plan to start their ‘Cleanse’ bullshit.

The mere thought of that caused another feeling to burn in San’s veins. An ugly feeling he had never imagined himself capable of feeling to this extent.

Hunger for revenge.

San didn’t know what he was going to do yet, but he knew that he wasn’t going to let this slide. He wasn’t going to let those twisted people get away with hurting Wooyoung like this.

San was ripped out of his thoughts when he heard Wooyoung groan quietly. San perked up and looked at Wooyoung with wide eyes.

Wooyoung’s brows were furrowed as he regained his senses. He slowly opened his eyes and blinked at the bright light a few times. Then his eyes met San’s.

“San,” he croaked out. His voice sounded weak and tired, but a smile crept onto his lips. Wooyoung squeezed San’s hand, and San felt a silent tear roll down his face. He had never felt more relieved in his life.

“Yes, babe?” San replied, moving from his position on the chair to sit on the bed with him.

“I thought I’d never see you again,” Wooyoung replied, now crying as well. A sob shook his body, but he still managed to sit up. He moved aside to make space for San, who then gently pulled him into a hug.

“Come on, it’s not that easy to get rid of me,” he retorted, not really sure how he was still able to joke in a situation like this. He buried a hand in Wooyoung’s hair and hugged him tighter.

“I love you,” Wooyoung told him, sniffling.

“I love you too, Wooyoung. I’m so sorry that I wasted so much time. I should have told you way sooner,” San apologized and pulled away to look at him.

Wooyoung still had some bruises on his face and he looked like he had just been through a war, but San was just so relieved to finally have him back. He wiped a tear from Wooyoung’s cheek and pressed a kiss to his forehead.

“It doesn’t matter. I’m just glad you guys came to save me. I’m too young and beautiful to die,” Wooyoung chuckled through his tears.

“That, you are,” San smiled and handed him the empty glass from the nightstand before pulling out his wand to fill it with water. Wooyoung thanked him and emptied it in one go. San filled it up once more and watched him drink one glass of water after another. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I just got kidnapped and tortured by a weird cult,” Wooyoung replied and put the empty glass back on the nightstand.

“I’m afraid that’s not too far from the truth.”

“I’ll never leave you alone again,” San promised. “Next time I’ll make sure to protect you.”

Wooyoung leaned forward to kiss San’s lips but flinched as some of the pain in his side still seemed to remain. He put a hand on his side and hissed in frustration.

“Maybe you should lie down again,” San suggested and gently pushed Wooyoung back into the sheets. Wooyoung let him. San then lay down next to him, letting his head rest on Wooyoung’s shoulder.

They fell into a comfortable silence, just being close to one another and enjoying each other’s presence.

Not long after, the door clicked open and Yeosang peeked inside, his eyes widening when he saw that Wooyoung was awake.

“Woo!” he called out. San could practically see his eyes water as he hurried across the room.

As soon as Yeosang had reached the side of Wooyoung’s bed, he threw his arms around him and hugged him so tightly that Wooyoung let out a pained noise.

“Careful with the ribs,” he chuckled as Yeosang let go of him.

“Right, sorry,” said Yeosang, smiling at him with tears running down his face. “I’m so glad you’re okay. I was so scared!”

He hugged him again, more carefully this time, and Wooyoung comfortingly patted his back as they stayed like that for a few moments.

San couldn’t help but smile at the bond those two shared.

“I’ll never leave you alone again if you’re just gonna go ahead and get kidnapped,” Yeosang suddenly scolded Wooyoung when they broke apart once again. “From now on, I'll make sure to pick you up for class as well as escort you to breakfast, lunch, and dinner. If I'm too busy, I'll just make San or Jongho do it. I'll prepare a schedule and everything so don’t think you can get off so easily.”

Wooyoung scoffed at his best friend’s mood shift. “You’ll let me go to the bathroom by myself though, right?”

“Maybe,” said Yeosang, dead serious.

“Give him a break,” chuckled San. “I’ll take really good care of him.”

Wooyoung smirked at him and leaned into San’s chest. “See? He’ll take _really_ good care of me.”

Yeosang shook his head. “I almost forgot how unbelievable you two are.”

The door opened once again, but this time it was Jongho who came in, wearing a bandage that supported his shoulder.

Yeosang immediately got to his feet and hurried over to him.

“Jongho!” said Wooyoung and sat back up. “I thought you needed rest, what are you doing here?”

“I rested so much that I’m bored out of my mind and it doesn’t even hurt that much anymore,” he replied, letting Yeosang help him close the door behind him.

Wooyoung gave him a worried look. “I’m sorry that you got so badly injured because of me.”

Jongho waved it off with his healthy arm. “It’s nothing. What’s a little injury if it means that we finally have you back?”

Wooyoung grinned, but Yeosang shook his head at him. “Little injury? Please, Jongho. Your shoulder was ripped open!”

“Calm down. It’s already half healed! Plus, Nurse Vane said it’s fine as long as I wear the bandage and don’t move my shoulder too much,” Jongho reassured him.

“Still,” Yeosang persisted, forcing the younger to take a seat on the empty bed next to Wooyoung’s, “lie down here at least.”

When Jongho showed Yeosang a thankful smile and the two of them stared at each other for just a moment to long, Wooyoung turned to look at San with raised eyebrows.

Of course. Wooyoung had no idea that there was something going on between the two.

San didn’t bother explaining it to him right then and there. Wooyoung would get to hear a detailed report from Yeosang once they had the opportunity to spend some one-on-one time again. So he only grinned, causing Wooyoung to shrug it off and change the subject.

“Seriously though, you guys are absolutely insane. Breaking into the Ministry of Magic and getting away with it like that…” he pointed out, shaking his head disbelievingly.

San put an arm around him and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “That just proves how much we love you.”

“Right. We wouldn’t do that for just anyone,” said Jongho.

Wooyoung beamed happily before continuing. “By the way, where are all the others? Mingi, Yunho, Hongjoong, and Seonghwa… I have to thank them as well. They also risked their lives just to save me, after all.”

“They dropped by here a bunch of times before you woke up,” Yeosang explained and checked his wristwatch. “Right now they’re in class, though.”

Wooyoung nodded to himself. “Well, how about this, then,” he began, “Why don’t we meet up at the Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer as soon as Jongho and I are allowed to leave. I will buy everyone who came to get me out of that hell at least three butterbeers.”

“I’m so in,” grinned Jongho.

“Yeah, that’s a great idea,” Yeosang chimed in. “I’m down for some good butterbeer.”

“Then it’s settled! I can’t wait!” Wooyoung smiled brightly, once again the sun of his own little solar system. He radiated nothing but happiness that never failed to affect the people around him.

San had missed the warmth he always felt when he watched Wooyoung blossom in his element. So much that San didn’t even notice that he’d zoned out while staring at Wooyoung until the latter waved around his hands in front of San’s face.

“Huh?” said San.

Wooyoung laughed and took down his hands again. “I asked you if you could invite the others to come since Yeosang said that you were the one who brought this team together in the first place.”

“Of course, baby. Consider it done.”

“Thanks,” replied Wooyoung and leaned into San’s chest again.

It almost didn’t feel real to San how time seemed to just fly by as the four of them chatted away, simply happy to be spending time with Wooyoung again.

Before they knew it, morning classes had ended and Yunho and Mingi showed up to visit Jongho and Wooyoung during lunch break. They brought along some food from the buffet in the Great Hall and shared it with them - only after smuggling it past Nurse Vane of course.

Mingi specifically made sure to bring some bacon to feed Jongho because he knew how much the Gryffindor loved it. 

Both Yunho and Mingi were immediately on board with the idea of meeting up at the Three Broomsticks the next day and couldn’t hide their excitement for it.

San didn’t say much as he watched everyone laugh and joke around, but he had a grin plastered to his face. Seeing his friends smile and be themselves, listening to Mingi’s goofy puns as he fed Jongho the bacon, and having Wooyoung right by his side, laughing to his heart’s content…

Finally everything felt normal again.

“How was class, by the way?” Yeosang asked Yunho and Mingi. “We didn’t miss anything important, did we?”

Mingi scoffed, handing Jongho another slice of bacon. “Of course not. It was boring as all hell.”

“I have to agree,” Yunho sighed. “And both Professor Binns and Professor Knotts gave us another pile of homework.”

San groaned. “I totally forgot stuff like class and homework existed for a moment.”

Wooyoung pouted cutely. “I think I actually miss class…”

Jongho only scoffed. “Don’t worry, I'm sure that sentiment won’t last for too long.”

“No, seriously. I think being locked away for a week made me appreciate even my worst subjects,” Wooyoung admitted.

San ran caressed his cheek comfortingly. “You’ll be able to go back to class starting tomorrow. Everything will be back to normal before you know it.”

Wooyoung gratefully smiled up at him before kissing his cheek.

“Oh,” Yunho said as he checked his wristwatch before turning to Mingi. “Care of Magical Creatures is starting in ten minutes. Shall we?”

Mingi nodded and slung his bag over his shoulder before the two of them bid their goodbyes again.

They were already halfway out the door when San remembered something.

“Ah, right. I almost forgot…” he mumbled to himself, getting to his feet. “Yunho, could I talk to you for a second?”

Yunho turned back around. He looked surprised but nodded nonetheless. “Sure.”

San followed him out of the room, making space for Nurse Vane who passed them with a little tray in hands.

He then reached into his pocket and handed Yunho his time turner.

Yunho looked at it in surprise. “Thanks... I totally forgot about this to be honest.”

San shook his head. “I should be the one thanking you. I don’t think I could’ve saved Wooyoung in time if it wasn’t for your help.”

“You’re giving me too much credit. I only did what I thought was right,” Yunho replied, sheepishly scratching the back of his head.

San smiled. “Still, thanks. Wooyoung is lucky to have a friend like you. And so am I.”

Yunho smiled back. “Honestly, the time turner just looked right in your hands. As if it belonged there.”

“How do you mean?” asked San with furrowed brows.

Yunho considered his next words for a moment. “It sounds so cheesy when I say it out loud, but… when I gave you the time turner last week it almost felt like destiny for you to have it. It’s like I had a feeling that I was supposed to give it to you.”

“Destiny?”

“I know it sounds strange,” Yunho laughed, “but that was the feeling I got back then. It’s an ancient model and runs on really old magic, so maybe it had something to do with that.”

San only nodded. “Maybe…”

“There’s something so mysterious about old magic. When I tried to build a second time turner in case this one ever broke, I realized how hard it is to replicate that kind of magic. Every single attempt failed,” Yunho said more to himself than to San.

San looked up at him with widened eyes. “Wait, you tried to make a time turner?”

Yunho nodded.

“Really? How?”

“Yunho, dude, are you coming or not?” asked Mingi from the hallway. “Professor Patil will murder us if we’re late again.”

Yunho checked his wristwatch once more and his eyes widened. “He’s right, I need to go. I’ll tell you about that another time though, okay?”

“Oh, y-yeah,” said San and nodded absentmindedly and Yunho took off with Mingi.

Building a time turner. San had never thought about that before. But something told him that having a time turner of his own might not be such a bad idea…

San returned to the others and took a seat on Wooyoung’s bed again.

“What was that about?” asked Jongho, who was sipping on another one of those potions Nurse Vane kept bringing him.

“Nothing much, I just gave Yunho his time turner back,” San replied, his mind still somewhere else.

Wooyoung furrowed his brows. “Wait, time turner?”

“Yes, that’s how we found you,” said Jongho. “We went back in time to see where those people took you.”

“Really?” Wooyoung asked, sounding impressed. “That’s pretty fucking genius.”

San smiled at him and ran a hand through his hair. “It was Mingi’s idea, actually.”

“I should buy him a drink sometime, then,” Wooyoung chuckled.

“Another one? Are you planning on paying us all back with free drinks from now on?” Jongho asked, laughing.

Wooyoung raised his hands in defense. “What else am I going to do to repay you guys? I owe you for life after all.”

“I can think of a few other ways you can repay me,” San offered with a smirk.

Wooyoung turned to him and smirked back. “You can get those for free.”

Jongho snorted, and Yeosang covered his ears in disgust. “Ew, stop! I did not miss this at all!”

San merely shrugged and pressed a quick kiss to Wooyoung’s lips. The four of them fell back into their chatter about anything and everything until Nurse Vane showed up once more.

She allowed San and Yeosang to stay with Wooyoung and Jongho for the rest of the day, but only under the condition that they’d leave in the evening and sleep in their own common rooms again, because the Hospital Wing was “no hotel” and she couldn’t just “let them lodge here forever.”

And so the two of them agreed to her deal and remained there until dinner before bidding their goodbyes to Wooyoung and Jongho.

San and Yeosang’s ways parted halfway down the Great Stairs when San spontaneously decided to head to the library first.

He had something to look into.

**Monday, December 5th. 06:25PM. Hogwarts, Quidditch Field. Song Mingi.**

“Great work, team. If we play like this against Gryffindor next month, we'll annihilate them without a doubt,” Quidditch Captain Bang Chan yelled over to the team members flying towards him in their deep green Quidditch uniforms. “Minhyuk, try to keep an eye out for the Bludgers and make sure they miss you by more than just a few inches. Seokhwa, don’t get distracted by the other players and keep an eye out for the snitch even if you’re not supposed to catch it yet. And Mingi, outstanding and precise job as always. Keep it up.”

“Sure thing, Captain,” grinned Mingi.

Chan spent a while longer giving some other team members tips about the strategy before he addressed the entire team again. “Practice for twenty more minutes and I’ll let you head back to the castle.”

And so Mingi continued to practice hitting the Bludger with his bat and making it knock the enchanted training dummies of their brooms, just like he would in a real game. He always did well with Quidditch, but today things seemed to go exceptionally well. He hit every single target with amazing precision.

Confidently grinning, Mingi decided to hit a couple more targets even after practice had finished until the captain told him to send the Bludgers back to the box it belonged. Mingi complied and the captain left, leaving Mingi alone on the pitch. Except he wasn’t as alone as he’d thought.

Mingi’s heart skipped a beat when he recognized the tall figure sitting in the stands alone, watching him.

It was Yunho.

Mingi immediately flew over to him, smoothly landing on his feet next to him.

“Yunho, hey,” said Mingi, the bat still in his gloved hands. “What are you doing here?”

Yunho looked gorgeous in his yellow Hufflepuff scarf and the thick black coat that he wore over his robes. He was smiling his sweet smile, his cheeks and nose slightly red from the cold air up on the stands and his blonde hair shimmering in a warm golden tone in the setting winter sun.

“Well, I was bored so I came to see you play,” Yunho responded.

Mingi blinked in surprise. “It’s… been a while since you last did that,” he pointed out.

“True… sorry.”

“No need to apologize, I didn’t mean it like that. I’m just surprised and glad to see you here.”

Yunho’s smile widened. “And I’m glad I came to watch you. I forgot how good you were at flying. Seems like Slytherin will ace this season.”

“Come on, I’m not _that_ good,” Mingi mumbled, sheepishly scratching the back of his head.

The two of them continued to chat as they made their way down from the stands. They had to climb down the stairs slowly, careful not to slip on the half frozen wooden stairs.

“It was nice to talk to Wooyoung again earlier,” said Yunho as they crossed the Quidditch field to head towards the cabin with the lockers and changing rooms. “Made me realize how much I missed him while he was gone.”

Mingi nodded. “Yeah. I’m glad he’s okay. San was worried sick for him, but since he’s brought him back he’s finally smiling properly again.”

“Yeah.”

They came to a halt when they reached the cabin door and Mingi turned around to face Yunho.

“I have to go change.”

“Okay, I’ll wait for you.”

“Oh,” Mingi said stupidly. “For real? Thanks.”

Mingi then entered the locker room, still dumbfounded by this situation. Not only had Yunho sat next to him in class today because San wasn’t there and accompanied him on his way to the Hospital Wing earlier; Yunho had went out of his way to see him play Quidditch. And they hadn't even gotten into any argument all day. But why?

After he’d changed out of his uniform and into his robes, Mingi put on his coat and his Slytherin scarf before heading out into the cold again.

Yunho was still there.

He’d leaned against the cabin wall while waiting and was now smiling at Mingi again.

Mingi regarded him for a moment, dumbstruck.

Yunho laughed at his awkwardness. “What’s wrong? Is it weird that I came here?”

“N-no! I mean, maybe a little? I’m just not used to it anymore…” Mingi admitted as they began walking back to the castle.

“It’s a bit weird for me too,” said Yunho, looking down at his hands. He was fumbling around with the ends of his scarf somewhat nervously. “It’s because I actually um… wanted to ask you something.”

Mingi blinked in surprise. “Really? Well, what did you - ?”

“Mingi!”

Yunho and Mingi turned around at the sudden call from behind them. It was Yeonjun and Changbin who came running towards them. Mingi would’ve been glad to see them if their timing hadn’t been so shitty.

“There you are, bro!” said Changbin when they’d caught up to them. “We need you!”

“What for?” Mingi asked.

“To mess with the Gobstone Club. Changbin had a good idea about how to prank them real good,” Yeonjun explained with a mischievous grin on his face.

“The idea is to enchant their stupid Gobstones to turn into plate-sized spiders upon touch. Simple but effective,” grinned Changbin.

Mingi gave Yunho an unsure look.

Yunho grinned along. “You should go with them. The Gobstone Club does kinda deserve to be pranked.”

“But you were going to ask me something…”

“It’s alright, I’ll ask you next time.”

“But – ”

Yunho took Mingi’s hand and squeezed it lightly. “See you later,” he told him with a smile before looking at the other two. “Good luck. And don’t get caught.”

And with that Yunho turned around and returned to the castle by himself.

Mingi’s heartbeat picked up as he watched Yunho leave.

What did he want to ask him so bad that he came all the way out here and waited for him in the cold? It must’ve been personal enough for him to not want to say it in front of Yeonjun and Changbin.

Mingi only half listened to his friends explain their mischievous plan and simply went along with them, unable to take his mind off of Yunho.

**Monday, December 5th. 09:46PM. Hogwarts, Slytherin Common Room. Choi San.**

San yawned as he turned the page of the large book on the table in front of him. It was the third book he’d browsed through on his research on how to build a time turner and he still hadn’t been able to find anything.

“You should catch some sleep, bro. I still don’t think you’ve gotten proper rest ever since Wooyoung has disappeared.”

There was nothing to find in _Magic and Mechanics Combined II: Using Muggle Technology to Enhance the Everyday Wizarding Lifestyle_ , _History of The Hour-Reversal Charm: No Turning Back_ only focused on the side effects of meddling with time, and The _Principles of Time: Myths and Legends Explained_ was complete rubbish. Maybe _Changing Seasons: A Magical Take on Quantum Mechanics_ could at least tell him where to start?

“He’s safe now. You can take a break until you throw yourself into the next mess,” Mingi continued and slapped his Charms book close. “I don’t even understand why you would need a time turner any - ”

“Oh, check this out,” San gasped when he spotted a line that sounded interesting. “ _Once quantum mechanics is taken into account, self-consistent solutions always exist for all time machine configurations, and initial conditions. However, it has been noted such solutions are not unique in general, in violation of determinism, unitarity and linearity._ ”

Mingi stared back at him blankly. “And?”

“ _And_ I don’t know what it means either but it sounds smart! I think this is what I’m looking for,” San retorted.

“San, why are you doing this?”

San sighed. “Look. I know that Wooyoung is back, and I know that he’s safe right now. But that doesn’t mean that those people won’t try to hurt him again. That doesn’t mean that we stopped them from succeeding with their crazy plan,” he explained.

“Yes, but it’s not your responsibility to do that, San.”

“If I don’t stop them, who else will?”

Now it was Mingi’s turn to sigh.

“You don’t have to help me with this, you know? I’ll do it on my own if I need to.”

“I told you before, I’ll follow you anywhere,” Mingi said sincerely. “I’m just telling you to give yourself a break.”

San considered him. It was true that barely a day had passed since they had rescued Wooyoung and here he was, already planning for revenge.

But he just couldn’t shake that feeling that things weren’t going to end here, that he needed to be one step ahead of those people, that he needed to make them pay for what they did somehow. It didn’t feel right to just lay back and continue with their everyday lives after everything he’d been through over the past week, everything he’d seen Wooyoung go through.

However, when San saw the pure look of concern and sincerity on Mingi’s face, he figured that he might truly be overreacting.

Eventually, San sighed in defeat and put away _Changing Seasons: A Magical Take on Quantum Mechanics._ “Fine. You’re right. I’ll give it a rest.”

Mingi smiled at him. “Great. Now that you have him back you can spend all of your thoughts on Wooyoung again.”

“Yeah,” said San as a smile of his own started to spread on his lips. “I have an idea, actually.”

Mingi tilted his head questioningly when San got a new piece of parchment out of the bag next to his chair and carefully ripped out a square piece. He then took his writing feather, dipped it in ink, thought about what to write for a short moment and scribbled a message onto the parchment.

_I wanted to send you something sexy, but the mailman told me to get out of the mailbox ;)_

_Just kidding. I still can’t stop thinking about you and the things I’m going to do to you once you’ve recovered. Once you get out of that hospital bed, I’ll get you right into mine. Brace yourself._

Smirking confidently, San carefully folded the piece of parchment and charmed it to head to the Hospital Wing.

“See?” Mingi grinned. “We can still get our revenge on the New Lord after Christmas.”

San sighed. “Yeah. But once the time comes, I’ll make that bastard regret he ever messed with me.”

**Monday, December 5th. 11:10PM. Hogwarts, Hufflepuff Dorms. Jeong Yunho.**

“How did it go?” Hongjoong asked, closing the wooden door after he’d let himself into the sixth-year boys’ dorm.

Yunho’s head perked up to see Hongjoong standing there with a cute bunny headband in his blue hair and his grey onesie that looked two sizes too big on him.

“Not so well, we got interrupted before I could ask him,” he responded, putting aside his limited edition of the _Mumbling about Mummies_ magazine. “It’s okay though, I’ll just ask him when I see him after class tomorrow.”

Hongjoong hummed in acknowledgement and let himself plop down next to Yunho on the bed before cuddling up to his side like he did so often lately.

Yunho chuckled warmly and put an arm around him. “You’re so clingy lately.”

“Clingy? You should be honored that I'm allowing you to cuddle me,” Hongjoong joked and Yunho laughed.

“Seriously though, are you okay? Nothing happened, right?”

Hongjoong hesitated for a few moments before saying, “Yeah.”

Yunho couldn’t quite believe him. He had a feeling that Hongjoong was lying, but he also knew that there was no point in trying to get it out of him.

So, he only said, “good.”

A few moments of silence passed in which Hongjoong rested his head on Yunho’s chest, as Yunho caressed his hair.

Yunho was first to break the silence. “Do you think it'll really work out though…?”

“What, you and Mingi?”

“Yeah.”

“Of course, it will. My plans always work out."

Yunho chuckled at Hongjoong’s confidence. “Fine. I'll just have to take your word for it.”

“Exactly,” Hongjoong responded and smirked up at him.

Yunho knew that smirk. “Just what is going on inside that pretty little head of yours?”

Hongjoong climbed on top of him, one leg on each side of Yunho’s hips, and grinned. “That, I’m afraid, you’ll never truly know.”

Yunho grinned back and didn’t resist when Hongjoong leaned down to kiss his lips. He immediately relaxed against his lips and just let it happen, forgetting about everything else for a moment.

Being with Hongjoong was comfortable. His body felt so small in Yunho’s arms and a pleasant warmth spread inside of him at the feeling of his lips moving against his.

It was nothing like the explosion of affection and maybe even love that Yunho felt when he was with Mingi, but it was still extremely nice.

Hongjoong played with Yunho’s hair and Yunho simply lost track of how long they were kissing as time ticked away into the night.


	11. Tuesday, December 6th

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, ATINY! Finally, here's the final chapter!
> 
> Enjoy reading and don't forget to read the end note this time! <3

**Tuesday, December 6th. 06:43AM. Hogwarts, Ravenclaw Common Room. Kang Yeosang.**

Hugging his knees to his chest, Yeosang sat on one of the dark blue sofas in his common room. It was early morning, so the sun wasn’t up yet, and the only thing lighting up the room was the faint moonlight falling through the star-spangled ceiling.

Yeosang had wrapped himself in a blanket and warmed his hands with a hibiscus tea he’d prepared for himself and did nothing but look around the dark and empty common room.

He’d never felt more at ease ever since the incident.

Wooyoung had been his mind’s first priority all week, but simply knowing that Wooyoung was sleeping safely in the Hospital Wing that was supervised by Nurse Vane allowed Yeosang to be calm like this.

And now that Wooyoung was off his mind, all that was left was…

Jongho.

It was embarrassing to even just admit it to himself how his mind just kept revolving around that boy.

_“I can wait – or take it slow – whichever you want.”_

Yeosang had really just agreed to that without knowing what ‘taking it slow’ really meant.

What exactly were they going to be from now on? Where on the relationship scale were they now? Were they still in the flirting stage? Dating? What was Jongho to him and what was he to Jongho?

Yeosang took a sip of his tea before running a hand through his hair.

Now that he and Jongho agreed on taking it slow, Yeosang wondered if he was going to miss how racy things had been between them. How unpredictable they had been.

Most of the time, Yeosang couldn’t even explain why the two of them had ended up all over each other, kissing like it was their last day on earth. But thinking about it now, it had been exactly that unexpected raciness that had excited Yeosang so much.

It wasn’t his style to be so carefree with someone. Ever since that incident, Yeosang had always had his guard up around others, especially in physical matters. It was a little scary to think about how much that incident had changed him.

_“No… please, I said stop!”_

Yeosang shook his head and hugged his legs tighter to his chest.

No. Jongho was different. Jongho was nothing like Corbyn. He wouldn’t do something like that… right? Plus, Yeosang wasn’t as helpless as he was back then.

And yet, his skin still crawled uncomfortably every time the memory came back to him.

_“Hey! Come back here!”_

Yeosang shook the thought out of his head once more. He’d promised himself to push that memory as far away from him as possible.

He closed his eyes and tried to direct his mind toward something else instead, something nice…

And once again all his mind gave him was Jongho.

The comforting sound of his voice, especially when he chuckled, his cute smile that was incredibly contagious, that soft dark hair that Yeosang liked to run his hands through, that nice masculine scent that always seemed to surround him along with the fruity smell of whichever shampoo he liked to use, _his hands holding Yeosang’s waist, his breath tickling Yeosang’s skin, his lips kissing Yeosang’s neck while his fingers move across his chest to slowly loosen his tie and fumble to undo the buttons of his_ -

“Ow, darn it!”

Yeosang’s eyes shot open in shock. He had sunken so deep into his thoughts that he let out a small scream and almost dropped his cup when he saw a someone standing in the middle of the dark common room.

The figure had stopped in their tracks, seemingly just as startled to encounter somebody down here this early.

Yeosang scrambled to get out his wand and muttered, “ _Lumos.”_

The light erupting from the tip of his wand lit up the area around him and revealed Seonghwa, hunched over and massaging his toes.

“Oh, it’s just you,” said Yeosang, sighing in relief and putting a hand on his heart. “You scared me to death.”

“Y-Yeosang,” Seonghwa said and blinked at him in surprise. “Sorry, I didn’t think anybody would be here. I was just heading out but I stubbed my toe on this telescope.”

“Aha,” Yeosang responded, lowering his wand. “Don’t worry about it.”

Seonghwa let go of his toes and reached down to pick up his bag that he must’ve dropped. “What are you doing awake this early, though?”

“Just, um… thinking.”

“About?”

“I, uh – ” Yeosang blushed a little. He couldn’t just admit that he was having somewhat indecent thoughts about Jongho.

“Oh, s-sorry, I didn’t mean to be so intrusive,” Seonghwa added before Yeosang had to come up with a response. “I have to go now anyway.”

“Hold on, where to? Even you’re not usually up this early.”

“I have, um… prefect duties to attend to.”

Yeosang raised an eyebrow, but Seonghwa chose to ignore that.

“See you at the Three Broomsticks tonight,” he said, already on his way out before turning around one last time. “You’ll be there, right?”

“Of course.”

And with that Seonghwa opened the door and left the common room.

Yeosang let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding as soon as the door fell closed behind him. He shut off the light of his wand and leaned back into his little sofa.

His head was still full of thoughts that were more inappropriate than he’d like to admit. Where had all of that even come from?

“Damn you, Jongho,” Yeosang muttered to himself and finished his tea before cleaning his cup. He then headed back up to his dorm to start getting ready for his morning classes.

It seemed like today was going to be a long day.

**Tuesday, December 6th. 09:50AM. Hogwarts, Greenhouse. Song Mingi.**

Mingi gave a sigh of relief when Professor Longbottom finally announced the end of the lesson.

It wasn’t that Mingi disliked Herbology or anything - on the contrary, it was his second favorite subject after Care of Magical Creatures – but after that stressful past week he’d had, practicing offensive spells and breaking into the Ministry of Magic, he really just needed some time to catch up on sleep.

He gave a drawn-out yawn as he and San packed their gardening gloves and wands, ready to leave for Transfiguration.

“Wait, Mingi,” Yunho suddenly called out from behind them.

Mingi’s heart skipped a beat just like it had yesterday. He immediately turned on his heel.

Yunho jogged to catch up to them with a pretty smile on his lips, his bag casually slung over his shoulder.

“Can I talk to you for a minute? It’ll be quick,” he said.

Mingi threw a quick glance at San, who only shrugged and smirked before following the other students outside the greenhouse, leaving the two of them alone.

As soon as he’d left, Mingi looked at Yunho and grinned, “Yes?”

Yunho then suddenly took his hand and gently led him to the back of the room, making sure they were out of any possibly lingering students’ earshot. 

Despite the cold weather, Yunho’s hand felt warm as ever.

“What is it?” asked Mingi with a chuckle. “Is it the thing you wanted to talk about on the Quidditch field yesterday?”

Yunho nodded and smiled bashfully. Mingi felt his heart pound with anticipation.

“It’s just that…” Yunho looked down to his feet in an unusually shy manner. “When we got separated in the ministry… I was really worried that something might happen to you. It made me realize how stupid we were acting this whole time,” he said honestly.

Mingi’s eyes widened. “Y-you did?”

Yunho nodded again and sheepishly scratched the back of his head. “This whole rescue mission thing made me realize that I just have a lot of regrets about how things went down between us, you know? I was acting childish back then and… I admit I overreacted.”

Mingi was starting to get an idea of where this was going. “Yunho… What are you trying to say?”

“Truth is…” Yunho’s ears turned slightly red as he hesitated, and Mingi bit back an excited grin. “I really missed you. I missed… _us_.”

Mingi’s heart took a leap. Was Yunho really saying what Mingi thought he was saying?

He couldn’t hide his grin any longer. “I missed us too.”

Yunho brightly returned his smile. “I’m glad you feel the same way. I would really love for us to be friends again.”

Mingi’s heart sank almost as fast as it had been ignited in the first place. This was not how he had expected this to go.

“F-friends, yeah, absolutely. I, um, was just about to suggest the same thing,” Mingi lied. To top it all off, he then awkwardly held out a hand.

Yunho chuckled and shook it before pulling him into a tight hug.

Mingi wanted to disappear into the ground. It was his own damn fault things had come to this; he shouldn’t have rejected Yunho in the first place. He’d missed his chance. The realization of how big of an idiot he had really been slapped him right across the face.

He didn’t want to be friends with Yunho. He wanted to be so much more than that. He wanted to tell him not to look at other guys, to ditch Hongjoong, to be his instead.

And yet, the words just wouldn’t cross his lips.

Yunho pulled away and smiled happily. “I have to go now. I promised Park Woojin that I would correct his Potions essay for him. See you later,” he said, waved, and left the greenhouse, leaving Mingi behind.

Mingi weakly waved after him.

A cold breeze swept through the greenhouse and ruffled up Mingi’s hair, sending a shiver down his spine and making him pull his robes tighter around his body. Watching Yunho leave like this felt like someone ramming a spear through his chest.

He let out a sigh. With slumped shoulders, Mingi left the greenhouse as well.

San waited for him outside, grinning widely. “What did he say?” he asked, teasingly nudging Mingi’s side. “He looked super excited walking past me just now.”

Mingi sighed once again. “He said he wanted us to be friends again.”

San’s grin disappeared as he blinked at Mingi. “What do you mean, _friends_?”

“I mean exactly that, _friends_.”

“But… he likes you,” San said, visibly confused. “Why would he ask you to be just friends?”

“I don’t know, man!” Mingi exclaimed, raising his voice and finally letting out the bottled-up frustration. “I thought… I really thought he felt the same about me…”

San pouted at him in sympathy and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. “And what did you respond?”

“That I was thinking the exact same thing.”

“You - ” San ran a hand through his hair, exasperated. “Why didn’t you just tell him that you want it to be more?!”

“Because I’m an idiot apparently, I don’t know!” Mingi retorted defensively, crossing his arms over his chest.

San sighed and considered him. “You’re not an idiot, alright? Maybe… maybe Yunho has some kind of good reasoning behind that.” he suggested. “Maybe he does want to fix the relationship between you two but didn’t want to jump the gun in case you’d reject him again. That sounds kinda plausible.”

Mingi shook his head and kicked away a rock on the ground. “Or maybe it’s because of Hongjoong… I don’t stand a chance against him…”

“Oh, Mingi,” said San. “That’s not true and you know that deep down. You’re a great guy. Top tier manly man! You’re tall, you’re handsome, and you’re on the Quidditch team!”

“Well…” Mingi muttered and sheepishly scratched the side of his neck as San spoke.

“If Yunho really fell out of love with you – which I don’t believe for a second – you just have to pull him back in. Fight for him! Make it so that Hongjoong _can’t_ stand a chance against you.”

San then reached into the chest pocket of Mingi’s robes to pull out one of the Chocolate Frogs he knew Mingi usually kept there.

“Here, eat this,” he grinned and held it out to him.

San was probably right. If Mingi wanted Yunho to himself, he’d just have to fight for him. Easy. He just needed to figure out a battle strategy.

“Thanks, bro,” Mingi smiled, took the Chocolate Frog and removed its wrapper right away.

San waved off and reached up to put an arm around his much taller friend’s shoulders. “Come on, let’s head to Transfigurations for now. We’re already kind of late.”

Mingi nodded and let San pull him towards the castle, munching on his Chocolate Frog.

**Tuesday, December 6th. 12:38PM. Hogwarts, Great Hall. Jung Wooyoung.**

Wooyoung was more than happy to finally be released from the Hospital Wing.

Sure, San had stayed by his side most of the time until Nurse Vane had thrown him and Yeosang out, but Wooyoung couldn’t wait to see his dorm, his cat, his Chudley Cannons posters, and all of his other friends again. He was even looking forward to attending classes again in the afternoon.

He simply couldn’t hide his smile when he entered the Great Hall and hurried over to the Gryffindor table where San, Yeosang, and Jongho, were waiting for him already.

“Hey, look who it is,” grinned Jongho, who had been released in the morning.

“There you are, Woo!” Yeosang beamed next to Jongho.

And San, of course, greeted him with a kiss. “Welcome back,” he said and put an arm around Wooyoung as soon as he’d sat down next to him.

“Thanks, you guys. You don’t understand how glad I am to be back,” Wooyoung said with a bright smile.

The three of them had rearranged their part of the table in a way that granted Wooyoung the best of food options, and he felt his mouth watering at the sight of the deliciousness displayed in front of him.

Huge piles of steak, fish sticks, and french fries, a large bowl of tomato cucumber salad, fried rice, multiple sorts of pasta, mac and cheese with ham mixed in, pizzettas, burgers, sandwiches, a tall bottle of Pumpkin juice, a stack of Cauldron Cakes, and a long plate filled with cupcakes and cookies of all sorts... His stomach audibly grumbled in anticipation.

So, without further words he filled his plate with all kinds of foods and started devouring all of it. San had to chuckle next to him as he watched him eat like he’d never tasted food before. He, Yeosang, and Jongho had also begun to eat and chat about whatever came to mind.

“Oh, right!” Wooyoung suddenly exclaimed and pointed at the Daily Prophet next to Jongho. “I almost forgot that the Cannons played against the Harpies yesterday!”

“Oh, yeah, check out the article, it was crazy!” Jongho replied, put down his burger, and handed him the newspaper.

Wooyoung unfolded it immediately, brimming with excitement to see the score.

“Wait, what’s up?” asked Yeosang.

“Quidditch. Yesterday was the season finale between the Chudley Cannons and the Holyhead Harpies.” Jongho explained and poured himself some pumpkin juice before looking at Yeosang, wordlessly offering to pour him some too.

Yeosang gave him a small smile before holding out his cup to him. “Thanks.”

A triumphant grin spread over Wooyoung’s face as soon as he’d finished skimming over the article. “I knew it! I expected nothing less of the Cannons.”

“That was nothing but pure luck,” Jongho scowled. “The Harpies were in the lead for most of the game and could’ve easily turned things back around if Connolly hadn’t knocked O’Callaghan off her broom just as she was about to catch the snitch!”

“ _Luck?_ ” Wooyoung asked with a scoff. “That’s called talent! It’s not our fault our Beater is better at his job than your Seeker is!”

This time it was Jongho’s turn to scoff. “Just you wait until the next season. You’ll eat your words.”

Yeosang chuckled at their bickering as he struggled to peel his orange.

Jongho wordlessly took the fruit from him and smoothly removed the peeling, separated the carpels, and removed the pith before handing them back to Yeosang who once again thanked him with a smile.

“Yeah, yeah,” Wooyoung grinned, “We’ll see about that.”

Jongho threw him another scowl before breaking into a smile himself.

“On another note, isn’t there a game of our own season coming up in January?” San threw in.

Wooyoung nodded. “There is; Slytherin against Gryffindor.”

“Those are always the most exciting to watch,” said Yeosang excitedly, “Both teams are really good.”

San furrowed his brows. “Shouldn’t you be rooting for your own house, though?”

“Nah, our team kinda sucks,” Yeosang shrugged before taking a huge bite of his sandwich. While doing so, he accidentally covered half of his face in sauce. Without worrying too much about it, he wiped it off before taking another bite.

“You missed a spot,” Jongho, who had watched him the entire time, pointed out.

“Hm?”

“Right there.”

“Here?”

“No, there.”

“Did I get it?”

“No, you- Hold on, let me just – ”

Jongho reached out and wiped the sauce off of Yeosang’s top lip, making the other blush vigorously. They then looked into each other’s eyes for a few seconds before turning away from one another, one looking just flustered as the other.

Wooyoung and San both had to hold back their snickers. Wooyoung couldn’t believe that his friends’ dynamic had shifted this much in only a week. A lot must’ve happened while he was gone. He couldn’t wait to interrogate Yeosang about the details later.

“Anyway, San. Who are _you_ going to root for?” Wooyoung asked teasingly.

“I think Mingi will murder me if I don’t root for Slytherin,” San chuckled. “But in my heart, I will of course be rooting for you, my love.”

“Stop it, you,” Wooyoung grinned before lightly smacking San’s chest for the cheesy remark. San simply showed his signature smirk.

Wooyoung then felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around to see Yeonjun and Changbin standing there with wide grins spread across their faces.

“Yeonjun! Changbin!” he exclaimed happily.

“Wooyoung, man!” said Changbin and crossed his arms over his chest. “What are you doing here, we thought you’d moved away!”

“Without a word at that!” Yeonjun added, putting his hands on his hips like an angered mother would.

“Yeah, explain yourself!”

Wooyoung scratched the back of his head. “Sorry. You see, I…”

“His dad was going to be moved to different job position at the Ministry of Magic in France and Wooyoung was supposed to transfer to Beauxbatons, but it didn’t work out, so he was able to come back to Hogwarts,” Yeosang deadpanned.

“Y-yeah,” Wooyoung played along. “I would’ve told you guys, but it was all so abrupt and sudden that I didn’t even get a chance to.”

“It’s okay, dude. We’re just glad you’re back,” Yeonjun smiled and gave Wooyoung a brief hug.

Changbin grinned and put a hand on his shoulder. “Yeah, that’s what really counts.”

“And next time, you better let us know so we can throw a goodbye party for you!”

And with that, Yeonjun and Changbin returned to the Slytherin table while the rest of them focused back on the food.

“That was by far the best meal I’ve ever had,” Wooyoung sighed after he’d finished his final serving of steak.

“Are you full?” San asked Wooyoung who’d leaned into his side, rubbing his own stomach. 

“Yeah, I think so. But we should still have quite a bit of time left before classes start.”

“Actually, we’re in a little bit of a hurry, darling.”

“Why?”

“We have a meeting with our sunshine of a headmistress,” San explained, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Yeosang perked up. “Huh? What does she want from you? Hasn’t she done enough already?”

“I don’t know,” shrugged San, “Seonghwa only vaguely told me about it this morning. Maybe she wants to try and explain why a student, whom she claimed had transferred to another school last week, is back again after being kidnapped and tortured.”

Wooyoung looked over to see San’s usually soft features distorted into something far darker and angrier. It was a side of him Wooyoung had never seen before, and only now he realized how much he must’ve been through while Wooyoung was gone.

Wooyoung leaned over to press a kiss to his cheek and give him a smile. “Brighten up, it’ll be fine. She’s probably just going to give us a lame excuse as to why she thought I moved and ask us not to make a big deal out of it so the school’s reputation doesn’t suffer.”

“But it is a big deal! You were kidnapped on school grounds! In your very own dorm!” San retorted. “You were supposed to be safe there!”

“I know, I know. But she’s probably just trying to do her job.”

“Her _job_ is to ensure her students’ safety,” San pointed out grumpily. “I’m just saying, she would’ve let you die in there if we hadn’t taken it upon ourselves to save you.”

Wooyoung had to laugh at how worked up San had become over this. “And I’ll forever love you for that. But let’s keep cool heads for this. What’s important is that I’m here now. With you. Maybe we can even use this situation to our advantage,” he winked.

“He’s right,” Jongho commented. “If she’s really planning to convince you to keep all of this a secret, she’s gonna be ready to give up a lot to make sure you will.”

**Tuesday, December 6th. 12:55PM. Hogwarts, Headmistress’ Office. Choi San.**

Standing in front of Headmistress Park’s office, San took a deep breath to calm his bitterness. No matter what this conversation was going to be about, San didn’t want to lose his cool in front of her again.

It was mostly for Wooyoung’s sake to be honest; San couldn’t care less what that woman thought of him. But testing her limits might end up harming the both of them, so he decided to keep it in.

Wooyoung seemed to notice that he was tense and reached out to interlace their fingers, causing San to smile down at him.

“Ready?” San asked.

Wooyoung grinned back. “Yeah.”

And with that, San knocked twice before pushing the heavy door open.

“Mom, Dad!” Wooyoung exclaimed as soon as he’d seen the two standing there by the fireplace. Both their eyes widened when they spotted him. Wooyoung let go of San’s hand to hurry towards them.

“Thank God you’re okay,” Wooyoung’s mother said as she hugged her son tightly. Mrs. Jung was a rather small woman with long dark hair and muggle clothing. San could easily recognize Wooyoung’s beautiful features in hers.

However, he seemed to have gotten his general build from his father, who stood right beside her in his neat dark blue robes. He was tall and slender, his hair black and slightly messy like Wooyoung’s used to be before he’d dyed it. His expression was just as relieved as his wife’s.

“We’re so glad you’re safe,” he said, pulling both his wife and Wooyoung into a hug.

San noticed that both Headmistress Park and Seonghwa were also in the room, observing this family reunion rather awkwardly.

“But what are you doing here?” Wooyoung asked after his parents had finally let go of him.

“Your friend Seonghwa here invited us to come,” Mr. Jung explained. “He sent us a letter this morning, telling us everything that happened to you… and to Stephan.”

“O-Oh…” Wooyoung mumbled before glancing at Seonghwa, who only gave a nod.

“We came here as soon as we got the message,” Mrs. Jung added.

“And we demand to hear an explanation,” Mr. Jung addressed the headmistress, who had calmly stayed in her seat behind her desk the whole time.

She remained irritatingly composed and made a gesture for Mr. Jung to go on.

“Tell me,” he said, his voice charged with repressed anger, “How could it be that our son got kidnapped right under the roof of the safest wizarding school in the world? How could he be gone for a week without any action being taken?”

Mr. Jung was slowly approaching the headmistress’ desk as he spoke, and for a man with the same kind eyes as Wooyoung’s, he was fairly intimidating.

He was shaking with anger, but Headmistress Park only looked back at him sternly.

Something was off about her though. This whole time, she’d remained uncharacteristically passive and kept glancing over to Seonghwa – who didn’t seem to notice.

But that wasn’t all. It was something about the look in her eyes, beyond the iron mask that she usually wore.

She was afraid.

San furrowed his brows. What did _she_ have to be afraid of? Was she really that threatened by Mr. Jung’s words? Was she really so dependent on her position? Or was there something else that scared her…?

She glanced at Seonghwa again, a little longer this time. Did it have something to do with him?

Just what was she hiding?

“Mr. Jung, I understand your concern. However – ”

“Why were my wife and I not notified as soon as he stopped showing up to his classes? Why were his teachers told to spread the lie that he had merely transferred? And why was his rescue initiated by a handful of _students_?”

“At the time, the situation was… too unclear to risk causing unnecessary panic.”

“So you went out of the way to sweep it under the rug instead of trying to clear up the situation?!”

“With all due respect, I had no choice but to – ”

“Maybe it’s better if Wooyoung doesn’t attend an unsafe school like this any longer,” Wooyoung’s mother threw in, shaking her head.

Wooyoung’s jaw dropped and so did San’s heart.

“Whoa there, mom! Stop right there! I-I want to keep going here!” Wooyoung objected.

Mrs. Jung put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “Wooyoung, after everything that’s happened – ”

“No, please, Mom. All of my friends are here!” Wooyoung interrupted her before looking at San and taking his hand once more. “I don’t want to go to another school.”

Wooyoung’s parents exchanged unsure glances.

“Alright, fine.” Mr. Jung said to him. “Maybe we won’t go that far. You can keep attending Hogwarts, Wooyoung. But you, Headmistress Park, should be warned. If I find out that you had anything to do with this, I will do anything it takes to drag you to court and make sure they send you to Azkaban.”

“Is that supposed to be a threat?” the headmistress asked through gritted teeth.

“Or maybe I should just turn to the press. I’m sure they’d be glad to get you fired by tomorrow.”

Headmistress Park pursed her lips and continued to glare back at Wooyoung’s father.

She glanced at Seonghwa one more time before sighing in defeat. “That won’t be necessary. I will ensure you that nothing like this will ever happen again. You… have my word.”

San couldn’t help but think it was satisfying to see her wall of arrogance break.

“The castle’s security will be strengthened, and we will have teachers patrol the hallways at night.”

They wrapped up the discussion with some formalities, and before San knew it, he, Wooyoung, and his parents had left the headmistress’ office and were standing in the Entrance Hall.

Seonghwa had stayed behind with his mother.

The silence that surrounded the four of them was somewhat awkward, so Mrs. Jung soon decided to break it.

“Well, you must be San,” she smiled, turning to him.

“Ah, yes, I’m San. Choi San.”

San had expected her to shake his hand but instead she pulled him into a hug. “It’s nice to finally meet you in person. Wooyoung has told us so much about you.”

“Nothing too bad, I hope,” San smiled in response.

Mrs. Jung glanced at Wooyoung with a grin. “No, no. Only positive things. You’re even more handsome than he described, though.”

Wooyoung’s ears went red. “A-Anyway, Mom! Isn’t it time to head back home? You two must have work to do or something!”

“Not so fast, son,” Mr. Jung laughed. “We have to thank San here before we leave. Seonghwa emphasized that you were the one who made Wooyoung’s rescue possible in the first place.”

Now it was San’s turn to feel humbled. “I-I mean, I couldn’t have done it without the others. Wooyoung has some amazing friends,” he waved off.

“Still, we can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done,” Mrs. Jung said sincerely. “To think that we could have lost our Wooyoung…”

Mr. Jung put an arm around her. “No matter what it is that we can do to repay you for that, you name it, we’ll do it.”

“Thank you, Mr. Jung, but there’s no need to repay me,” San replied politely before taking Wooyoung’s hand. “I did it because I wanted to.”

Wooyoung used his free hand to cover his reddening face. He couldn’t hide the smile brightening up his face, however.

Wooyoung’s parents looked at each other knowingly.

“You’ll always be welcome in our home,” Mrs. Jung smiled.

“Actually, you know what? Why don’t you come over for Christmas? If you and your family don’t have any other plans, that is,” Mr. Jung suddenly suggested.

San looked at Wooyoung, who simply shrugged, still grinning widely.

“I would love to,” San smiled.

“Lovely,” said Mrs. Jung.

After that, Wooyoung’s parents hugged their son goodbye, thanked San once more, and shook his hand before taking their leave. Wooyoung and San watched them as they made their way to the nearest fireplace to travel back home, leaving the two students alone.

Wooyoung turned to San, smiling happily, but his smile faded a little when he noticed that he was frowning.

“What’s wrong, babe?”

“I was just thinking…” San started. “Wasn’t the headmistress acting a little weird earlier?”

Wooyoung furrowed his brows. “I don’t know, was she?”

“She seemed kind of scared. And she repeatedly glanced at Seonghwa while your dad was talking to her.”

“Okay... and?”

“It was suspicious. It made me wonder what her real motive behind covering up your kidnapping was. She definitely tried to avoid the topic by simply claiming that she’ll make sure it won’t happen again.”

Wooyoung crossed his arms over his chest as he considered San’s words. “Do you think she’s one of _them_?”

San shook his head. “No... she doesn’t seem like the type.”

“Well, neither did my uncle...”

San gave him an apologetic look and took his hand. “You’re right, I’m sure he didn’t...”

A short moment of silence settled between them until Wooyoung spoke up again.

“If she isn’t one of them... maybe she’s being blackmailed or something”

“Blackmailed?”

“Yeah. I don’t believe she’d cover up one of her students’ kidnapping out of the pure evilness of her heart.”

“True... that is unlikely,” San admitted. “Her reputation would be on the line after all.”

“But what would they blackmail her with?”

Both of them tapped their chins in thought.

“Maybe with her position?” Wooyoung suggested.

“I don’t know, isn’t that kind of a weak reason?”

“It might not be to her... Maybe she worked really hard to get it and doesn’t want it taken from her.”

San nodded, staring off into the air absent-mindedly. “Maybe...”

But was that really all?

That’s when they heard a door click and footsteps coming down the steps behind them.

It was Seonghwa, who had finally left the headmistress’ office, checking his wristwatch, and only acknowledging Wooyoung and San with a smile and a short nod before turning to leave.

“Seonghwa, wait,” Wooyoung called out, causing him to turn back around. “Are you okay? I’m sorry my dad had to threaten your mother like that. He works in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, so he gets very heated about these kinds of things…”

Seonghwa showed a small smile. “It’s okay. He had every right to be mad. Plus, she knew what she was risking when she decided to cover up a crime. She… deserves it.”

San wasn’t sure how much Seonghwa really meant that last part. It was probably very hard on him, realizing what his mother had done just to save face.

There was a heavy pause until Wooyoung decided to break it.

“Anyway, thanks for contacting my parents and filling them in on everything. I have no idea how I would’ve explained that to them…”

“You’re welcome. And I’m glad to see you’ve recovered well.”

“Thanks,” Wooyoung smiled.

“Well, I’ll get going then. I have some – ”

“Prefect duties to attend to?” San completed his sentence.

“Exactly. See you tonight.”

The two of them watched Seonghwa turn the corner at the end of the corridor, leaving them behind.

San turned to face Wooyoung with a grin. “So, what do I do with you now that we’re alone?”

“I don’t know, where could we go?”

“Wherever you want, baby.”

Wooyoung thought about it for a moment before breaking into a grin and taking San’s hand. “I know a place.”

And with that, Wooyoung led him all the way up to the seventh floor to that bench in front of the window near the Room of Requirement.

San hadn’t been here since they had last hung out here on Wooyoung’s birthday.

“Aw, I thought we were going to your bedroom. The stone bench will be a bit too hard for comfort, don’t you think?” San teased.

Wooyoung’s eyes widened and he slapped San’s chest with a knowing smirk. “You dirty – ”

But San interrupted him with a peck on the lips before plopping down on the bench. “Kidding. Let’s sit down.”

Wooyoung shook his head, acting exasperated, but dropped his bag and took a seat next to him anyway.

The view was beautiful as always. Thick snowflakes floating past the tall window and a light breeze causing the trees of the Forbidden Forest to calmly sway from right to left – it was like a beautiful winter wonderland was displayed in front of them.

“Wow,” Wooyoung commented. His eyes were practically sparkling with happiness as he looked at the sight in front of them. “I can’t wait for Christmas.”

“Neither can I,” San responded with a smile.

It had been such a spontaneous decision to spend the holidays at Wooyoung’s house, but now that the thought of it had finally sunken in, San was grinning like a giddy idiot.

He’d have to send his parents a letter asking for permission as soon as possible.

“Will your parents be okay with you staying at my house over Christmas, though?” Wooyoung asked as if he’d read his thoughts.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure they will,” San replied. “As long as they know where I am, there won’t be a problem.”

“Perfect,” Wooyoung smirked. “I can already think of so many things I want to do with you.”

San raised his eyebrows. “Is that a euphemism?”

Wooyoung’s smirk widened. “Take it as you will.”

San couldn’t help but smirk as well when Wooyoung shifted to lie down on the bench, letting his head rest in San’s lap, just like he had back then.

It felt like that had been ages ago, but that didn’t matter now. All that mattered was Wooyoung lying there, looking up at San as if he put the stars in the sky.

He looked at him wordlessly like for a couple of moments before breaking into a grin.

“I didn’t think I’d get to introduce you to my parents this soon,” he said.

San smirked. “Did I make a good first impression?”

Wooyoung nodded eagerly. “They really liked you.”

“Really? I liked them too. They were almost as charming as their son.”

“You’re an insufferable flirt, you know that?”

“And you love me for it.”

“…I do.”

A meaningful pause followed those words. There’d been so much sincerity in his voice that it left San a little speechless.

Wooyoung reached up to let his fingers graze San’s cheek as he regarded him.

His face was illuminated by the bright light coming in through the big window across from them. San could even see the shadows of the snowflakes outside dance over his skin. It was a mystery to San how a person could be that beautiful.

“I don’t want to waste any more time, San,” Wooyoung said, his voice sounding as sweet as honey to San’s ears. “Be mine.”

“Silly,” San chuckled, intertwining their hands. “Like I haven’t already been yours this whole time.”

Wooyoung’s face lit up with his brightest smile, the one that never failed to ignite a fire in San’s chest. Just like the last time they’d been here, the tension in the air between them felt powerful enough to power an entire muggle village.

But this time, Wooyoung didn’t waste any time pulling San down to his lips to kiss him.

San’s heart did a leap when their lips met. It was a slow and passionate kiss, fueled by all that longing and affection they had for each other and it blew San away.

He completely lost track of time, simply relishing in this timeless moment that they shared. Wooyoung’s arms found their way around San’s neck, keeping him locked in place, while San on the other hand caressed Wooyoung’s waist.

It was like they were catching up on all that time they had spent away from each other with this one kiss, and San thought that it had to be illegal to feel as much love for another human as he felt for Wooyoung.

“I’ll never get tired of this,” Wooyoung muttered against San’s lips when they broke away.

San chuckled. “Not even in twenty years?”

“Not even in fifty years.”

San smirked and gently ran a hand through Wooyoung’s hair before connecting their lips again.

He was about to sink back into that sweet and blissful feeling again when Wooyoung suddenly pulled away once more.

“Shit, what about class?”

San groaned. “Can’t we just skip it? You just got out of the Hospital Wing.”

Wooyoung sat up and rumbled through his bag in search for his wristwatch. “No, I really want to go.”

“To _class_?” San questioned, furrowing his brows. “Why?”

Wooyoung gave him a weak smile. “I was locked away for a week. Believe it or not, that cell made me miss even class.”

San returned his smile and pressed a soft kiss his cheek. “Fine. I’ll take you there. Defense Against the Dark Arts, right?”

“Yes, but we only have seven minutes and your Potions class is on the other side of the castle,” Wooyoung snickered. “So, thanks for the offer, but I think I can find it myself.”

“No, no. Yeosang, Jongho, and I already agreed to escort you to all of your classes from now on.”

Wooyoung raised his eyebrows in an _are-you-serious_ manner.

“And either Jongho or I will take you back to your dorm afterwards every evening.”

Wooyoung gasped in exasperation. “San, come on, that’s – ”

“If you have any complaints, you gotta tell Jongho about them,” he interrupted him, his hands raised in defense. “It was his idea.”

“And you agreed?!”

“Of course I agreed.”

Wooyoung opened his mouth in silent protest before crossing his arms over his chest.

He wasn’t truly mad, of course.

“But I can walk the corridors by myself,” he grumbled.

“Look baby, I know you can,” San told him reassuringly. “But I don’t want to take any risks when it comes to your safety right now. It’s only for a while. Jongho just wants to make sure nothing happens to you if we can prevent it, and so do I.”

Wooyoung made a cute grumbling noise, so San swiftly put an arm around his shoulders.

“Plus, you get spend more time with me,” he offered with a grin, causing Wooyoung pout up at him playfully.

Wooyoung’s features softened. “I guess I can’t complain about that.”

Satisfied, San kissed him on the cheek. “See? Let’s go.”

**Tuesday, December 6th. 01:45PM. Hogwarts, Defense Against the Dark Arts Classroom. Jung Wooyoung.**

Wooyoung was glad to be back in the classroom, listening more attentively than ever before. He used to find theoretical Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons extremely boring and very much preferred practical learning, but after everything the New Lord had put him through, he had gained a new appreciation for them.

Today’s topic were Inferi, dead bodies reanimated through a magical branch of Dark Arts called Necromancy.

Looking at the pictures in the book was kind of unsettling - and those things very much reminded Wooyoung of zombies - but he enjoyed the lesson nonetheless, scribbling down annotations on his parchment.

The only thing that made Wooyoung feel a bit uneasy was how unusually fidgety Professor Snippet was. His eyes flickered to Wooyoung several times and every time they did, he seemed to lose his trail of thought, stopping in the middle of his sentence.

He made it even more difficult for Wooyoung to ignore the issue burning in the back of his mind, the things he saw almost every time he closed his eyes. It had been Wooyoung’s plan to use class as a distraction, but the more uneasy Professor Snippet got, the more his plan seemed to fail.

Wooyoung didn’t want to think about it. He didn’t want to let it consume his thoughts.

But his mind didn’t want to listen.

_“My patience is running extremely thin right now. I asked you what it says. What does the prophecy say?”_

_“I don’t know... I don’t know...”_

_Another kick to his ribcage that was already screaming with pain._

_Wooyoung desperately clutched onto the prophecy record as he tried to crawl away from him, but he was pulled back again by an invisible force._

_And then the pain shot through him again. One second, it felt as if he was being burned alive, then he was freezing to death, then he was suffocating... and it seemed to go on forever._

_He heard his own screams resonate within his skull as he screamed as loud as he'd never screamed in his entire life._

_“I’m not telling you...” he choked out. “No matter what, I’ll... never tell you...”_

_“Don’t force me to kill you, you filthy little – ”_

“Wooyoung, hey.”

Wooyoung gasped and his head spun to Jongho, whose voice had pulled him back into the classroom.

Chills ran down his spine. He hadn’t even noticed that Jongho had put a firm hand on his shoulder.

His eyebrows were furrowed with concern. “Are you okay? Jumping right back into class after… you know, everything that happened…”

“Oh, that. Yeah, it’s a good distraction,” Wooyoung replied, trying to sound casual.

“Are you sure? You seem a bit preoccupied.” 

Wooyoung smiled. “I’m fine.”

Jongho still looked a little worried, but returned his smile nonetheless. “Okay.”

The lesson dragged on as Professor Snippet explained the history of Inferi, and even though Jongho didn’t say anything else, Wooyoung could feel him glance at him from time to time.

Professor Snippet gave them an assignment about the next topic they were going to discuss in the next lesson before he let them leave.

Just like their classmates, Wooyoung and Jongho packed their bags and exited the classroom. They had just stepped out into the hallway when Wooyoung felt a tap on the shoulder. But before he could turn around to check who it was, he heard a pained yelp.

“Ow! What the hell, man?”

Wooyoung turned around and realized that the voice belonged to Hwang Yunseong, one of their classmates who seemed to have left the classroom right behind them.

Jongho had harshly grabbed his wrist after he had tapped Wooyoung’s shoulder and pulled him backwards, causing him to cry out.

Jongho quickly let go of Yunseong’s wrist. “Sorry, I thought you were… never mind.”

“You forgot this on your desk, Wooyoung,” Yunseong said and gave Wooyoung his writing feather before grumpily rubbing his wrist.

“O-Oh, thank you,” said Wooyoung.

Yunseong threw Jongho one last glare and pushed past them.

Wooyoung turned to Jongho. “What was that about?”

“Nothing… I just saw him sneaking up on you in the corner of my eye and acted on instinct,” Jongho said, scratching the side of his neck.

Wooyoung had to chuckle. “What, did you think he was gonna attack me or something?”

“I mean, you never know!” Jongho retorted, raising his hands in defense.

Wooyoung laughed. “I guess having a personal bodyguard isn’t so bad. I appreciate you taking care of me.”

Jongho flashed him a smile. “Of course. You’re safe with me.”

Next on Wooyoung’s schedule was Astronomy with the Ravenclaws. Jongho was supposed to go to Arithmancy, but due to that protection pact he’d made with San and Yeosang, he accompanied Wooyoung there.

Together, they made their way through the Clocktower and crossed the snow-covered Clocktower Courtyard that lead to the Astronomy tower.

The snowing had calmed a little; only a few small snowflakes danced around them, but the grass beneath their feet was still frozen and their breath was visible in the frosty air.

It was so cold that Jongho gave his own Gryffindor scarf to Wooyoung, putting it over the one the latter was already wearing.

Despite his complaints to San earlier, Wooyoung didn’t really mind having Jongho escort him to the next class. He did feel a little safer having at least one of his friends by his side. Plus, Jongho made great company. He had a great sense of humor and the same interests as Wooyoung, so he always found something to talk to him about.

Right now, he was enthusing about the new Quidditch season; how they would finally have Quidditch practice again tomorrow and how glad their captain had been to hear that they didn’t have to find a new Chaser to replace Wooyoung with after all.

“We’re gonna crush Slytherin this season, I’m telling you!” he grinned as they reached the foot of the Astronomy Tower.

“Thanks for walking me here, Jongho, but you don’t have to climb all the way up to the classroom because of me. I can just – ”

“No, don’t worry about it. I promised San to take no risks and I don’t mind waiting there with you until Yeosang shows up.”

Wooyoung raised his eyebrows at that last statement.

“What?” asked Jongho, awkwardly clearing his throat. “It’s just so he can seamlessly take over protecting you next.”

Wooyoung grinned. “I didn’t say anything.”

“You were looking at me funny.”

“I always look like that.”

“You don’t.”

“Look, I get it. I think it’s adorable that you two are falling for each other,” Wooyoung laughed.

Jongho attempted to hide a smile but failed. “Shut up.”

He opened the door to the tower and let Wooyoung enter first before they both climbed up the big winded stairs until they reached the Astronomy classroom.

About half of the class was there when they arrived. They still had ten minutes before class started, so Jongho followed Wooyoung inside to wait with him.

Grinning, Wooyoung plopped down into his seat in the back row. “So you were serious about waiting until Yeosang gets here.”

“I’m just… making sure you’re safe,” replied Jongho, who had taken a seat on the table in front of him, in the exact spot where Yeosang was going to sit.

Wooyoung wagged his brows at him and nudged his thigh. “Yeah, right.”

“You and San are exactly the same,” Jongho said, shaking his head.

Wooyoung shrugged. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Jongho gave him a small smile before sighing. “Whatever you’re thinking, it’s not like that. At least… not completely…”

“What do you mean? You guys were all over each other during lunch.”

“No, that’s what we were last week.”

“And now you’re not? What happened?”

Jongho sighed once more and looked around to make sure the other students weren’t listening to them. “Yeosang pulled the brakes on me a little bit,” he explained. “He didn’t exactly say why, and I didn’t want to push him for a reason. Maybe I moved too fast at some point and made him uncomfortable. I told him that I’ll wait however long he needs me to, but now I have no idea where we stand anymore. What’s allowed and what’s not allowed when you’re ‘taking it slow’?”

Wooyoung nodded slowly. “Well, why don’t you just ask him?”

“I don’t want him to think that I’m coming on too strong or something. And besides, that’s too - ”

But he was interrupted by the door clicking open as Yeosang stepped inside the classroom. He still had a couple of snowflakes in his hair, but he shook them off when he removed his coat and blue scarf.

A smile spread on his lips when he spotted Wooyoung and Jongho, and he quickly made his way over to them.

“I didn’t expect you to be here, Jongho,” he said and dropped his bag next to the table. “Isn’t your next class Arithmancy?”

“Yeah, but I wanted to make sure Wooyoung got here safely,” Jongho said, awkwardly clearing his throat again.

Yeosang seemed to believe him. “Oh, I see,” he smiled. “So, what were you guys talking about?”

“Um… Quidditch. Yeah, we were talking about Quidditch,” Jongho lied.

Wooyoung had to stop himself from laughing at that blatant lie.

“Again?” Yeosang chuckled. “I forgot that you guys were a bunch of jocks.”

Wooyoung gasped dramatically. “ _Jocks_?”

“More like _professional athletes_!” Jongho scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

Yeosang had to laugh, lightly slapping Jongho’s thigh. “Calm down, I’m just kidding. I actually think it’s kinda cute...”

His and Jongho’s eyes met for a moment and Wooyoung almost choked on the tension that erupted between the two. Yeosang had left his hand resting on Jongho’s thigh and Jongho was grinning down at him not so innocently from his position on the table.

Wooyoung only shook his head at them.

They continued to chat for a little longer until Professor Abbot came in to start her class and Jongho had to leave.

Wooyoung wasn’t really all that interested in Astronomy. He’d only taken the subject to spend more time with Yeosang, and the latter had promised to help Wooyoung with the workload that came with this class after all, so he only listened with half an ear.

The two of them soon ended up with their desks covered with sky charts they had to interpret while Professor Abbot made her rounds through the classroom to help them if they had any questions.

They used the opportunities she was on the other side of the classroom to do anything but the task they were given.

Now that he was simply goofing around in the back row with Yeosang, Wooyoung felt like his life had finally returned to normal.

Naturally, he’d cherished his friends even before the incident, but only now that he’d gone to hell and back, thinking that he’d never see his friends ever again, Wooyoung felt like he’d finally learned what it meant to truly appreciate one’s friends.

After Astronomy class ended, the two of them decided to climb up to the highest level of the tower to hang out there until their meeting with the others at the Three Broomsticks.

Wooyoung leaned against the railing and took in the beautiful view of the vast, snow-covered fields surrounding the castle. With both Jongho’s and his own scarf warming him up, he didn’t even mind the cold breeze stinging his face. It actually felt very refreshing.

Yeosang joined him, smiling. “It’s so nice up here.”

“It is. I almost forgot how beautiful the grounds look in winter,” said Wooyoung.

They remained silent for a few minutes, just taking in the view together, until Wooyoung couldn’t hold the question back anymore.

“So, tell me everything,” Wooyoung grinned excitedly. “What’s been going on between you and Jongho?”

Yeosang’s eyes widened and he laughed awkwardly. “N-Nothing.”

“Oh, don’t give me that. You two were totally flirting earlier! I haven’t seen you look at a guy this seductively since that crush you had on Youjin.”

“Seductively?! I looked at him… respectfully.”

“Uh-huh,” Wooyoung said with raised eyebrows. “I can see right through you. Something happened between you two while I was gone and I wanna hear all the juicy details.”

Yeosang sighed in defeat, unable to contain his smile as he elucidated everything Wooyoung had missed. How he’d drunkenly kissed Jongho the night of the party, how they had begun flirting, how Jongho had been there for him the whole time, how they’d kissed several times, and how Yeosang had been the one to chicken out.

“I didn’t expect to end up liking him so much, you know?” he explained. “He’s all I think about these days and I’m going _bonkers_.”

“But… why don’t you just go for it?” Wooyoung asked carefully.

Yeosang’s smile dropped and he gave him a serious look. “Woo… you know why…”

Wooyoung put an arm around him. “Yes. Yes, I know. But Jongho is no Corbyn.”

Yeosang visibly flinched at the sound of that name. “I know that he isn’t but I just… can’t.”

“Yeo…”

“I know it’s stupid because I do want to be with him. I really like him, Wooyoung. But I just can’t shake that feeling, you know. And I don’t know how long I can make him wait before it’s ruined.”

Yeosang looked down at his anxiously fidgeting hands.

It was just like it was back then, and Wooyoung couldn’t watch him go through all of that again.

Wooyoung pulled him into his side. “Jongho is a patient guy. If he told you that he’ll wait for you, he will. He’s a keeper… quite literally.”

“I’m so glad you’re back. I missed you and your awful puns.” Yeosang chuckled and pulled him into a hug.

Wooyoung was a little surprised at the sudden gesture but instantly returned his hug. “Me too.”

Yeosang giggled when Wooyoung hugged him even tighter. “Woo, you’re squeezing me!”

“It’s because I love you so much.”

“Look, I love you too, but I also love breathing!”

Wooyoung finally let go of him and they both had to laugh.

“Oh,” Yeosang gasped, checking his watch, “we should probably get going. We’re supposed to meet the others at the Three Broomsticks in twenty minutes.”

“Right, let’s go,” Wooyoung said and the two of them grabbed their bags before leaving the Astronomy tower.

They continued to laugh and chat about anything and everything as they left the castle behind and made their way down to Hogsmeade. In the time it had taken them to get there, the sun had already started to set, dowsing the little magical town in a beautiful mixture of orange and purple.

Once they’d passed all the other packed shops, they eventually reached the Three Broomsticks and hurried into the warm inn. Yeosang quickly rubbed his hands against each other in an attempt to warm them up while Wooyoung looked around the room in case any of their friends had reserved a table.

It didn’t take him long to spot Mingi, San, and Jongho, who were already sitting at one of the big round tables in the far corner of the inn. The three of them excitedly started to wave them over as soon as they’d spotted them. They had already ordered the first round of hot and steaming butterbeers for themselves.

Wooyoung plopped down in the seat next to San and greeted him with a kiss as Yeosang took the seat next to Jongho. He also didn’t miss Jongho taking Yeosang’s hands and putting them in his pockets, saying that he’d warm them up for him. Yeosang quietly thanked him with a flustered smile on his face.

“Oh boy,” sighed Mingi, who sat between San and Jongho, in a displeased tone. “The others better show up soon before I have to experience and more of this fifth-wheel cringe.

“Don’t be salty, man,” chuckled Jongho. “I’m sure Yunho will bless you with his company soon enough.”

Mingi scowled at him and took another sip of his hot butterbeer.

And as if Jongho had called it, Yunho and Hongjoong entered the inn and walked over to their table.

“Sorry we’re late. There was so much snow on the way here, I had to keep Hongjoong from slipping and falling every few steps,” Yunho explained as he took of his coat and yellow scarf.

Hongjoong scoffed. “You’re exaggerating! I would’ve been just fine without you grabbing my shoulders the whole time!”

Yunho laughed at him and casually put an arm around him as soon as they’d sat down, causing the smaller boy to lean into his side.

Mingi furrowed his brows at them for a second and grew even more displeased than before. He emptied his butterbeer and turned to Jongho and Yeosang, joining in on their conversation about the Quidditch game in January.

Wooyoung had to admit he felt bad for him. It was obvious that he liked Yunho, and it looked like Hongjoong and Yunho’s flirting really broke his spirits.

Wooyoung soon got ripped out of his thoughts, however, when San leaned in to ask him whether his classes went okay.

“Yeah, they went great,” Wooyoung smiled in response. “Everything finally felt normal again.”

San returned his smile. “I’m glad to hear that.”

“How were your classes?”

“Lonely.”

“Wasn’t Mingi there with you?”

“Sure, he was, and I love him to bits, but I just couldn’t stop thinking about you,” San replied and leaned in closer to his ear to add, “and those lips of yours.”

Wooyoung rolled his at him eyes playfully but couldn’t stop a grin from spreading across his face. “Stop it. You can examine them more closely later.”

San grinned. “I’ll take that as a promise.”

“There you are, Hwa! Join us!” Hongjoong called out suddenly.

Wooyoung turned around to see Seonghwa standing there somewhat awkwardly, hesitant to sit down with them.

“Yeah, don’t just stand there, we gotta complete the rescue squad so we can finally order some food!” Yeosang chuckled and gestured for him to take a seat.

“And more butterbeer! I’m all out!” added San, waving his glass around.

Seonghwa showed a smile. “Don’t mind if I do, then,” he said and finally took a seat next to Wooyoung at the round table.

“Yes! Finally we’re complete. I’m dying of hunger!” Jongho exclaimed and got to his feet. “I’ll go place our order.”

And with that, he collected San’s, Mingi’s, and also his own empty glass for a butterbeer refill before squeezing past the other tables and disappearing in the direction of the counter.

“Does he even know what to order?” Yunho questioned.

Wooyoung grinned. “Don’t worry, he and I already planned everything out.”

“Ooh, I can’t wait,” Yeosang said excitedly.

When Jongho returned to the table, he gave Wooyoung a sneaky wink.

“Alright guys, I don’t mean to ruin the mood, but there’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you all,” San started when Jongho settled back down between Yeosang and Mingi.

Everyone turned to him.

“What is it?” Mingi asked.

“Has anyone seen Donovan around since Sunday?”

They considered him for a moment before collectively shaking their heads.

“Actually, now that you mention it,” Jongho said, “I didn’t know this since both Wooyoung and I were in the Hospital Wing at that time, but I heard from Haknyeon that there was no Divination class yesterday morning.”

Wooyoung perked up. “What?”

Jongho nodded. “It seems like Donovan either temporary called in sick or maybe even resigned for good.”

“So that’s what my mother meant earlier!” Seonghwa said with wide eyes. “She mumbled something about having to find a new teacher, but she didn’t mention a subject. I guess it’s safe to assume that she was talking about a Divination professor.”

“I was wondering if he’d simply return to work after everything that’s happened…” Yeosang spoke up, sounding uneasy.

“I’d like to see him try,” Jongho said darkly. “If that bastard ever dares to show his face here again, I’ll kill him with my own hands.”

Wooyoung tensed up at the thought of ever facing that man again. Even though his ribs were fully healed, he could still feel the pain that man had caused him there.

He shook the thought out of his head. Now was no time to let those thought take over again, not while everyone was here.

San seemed to sense his discomfort and put his arm around him again.

“But you know what’s really suspicious?” Hongjoong chimed in. “The fact that the Daily Prophet didn’t bother mentioning any of this.”

“True, that is weird” Yunho agreed. “You’d think they’d mention something as grand as a kidnapping case taking place in the Ministry of Magic.”

“Maybe they’re just trying not to cause a panic or something,” Seonghwa suggested.

“And we don’t know what happened after we left,” said San. “Maybe the New Lord’s people covered stuff up before anyone could find out about it.”

Wooyoung gnawed on his lip uneasily. “But wouldn’t the ministry still notice that one of their workers is dead…?”

A somewhat heavy silence followed.

“That is indeed fishy,” Hongjoong agreed, rubbing his chin in thought. “Someone must’ve found the body at least. There’s no way it all went completely unnoticed.”

“So the ministry is actively trying to hide the fact that something did happen down there,” said Yunho.

“Well, all of it did go down in the Department of Mysteries, which is… you know, an enigma,” Jongho pointed out.

“You’re right, but it still doesn’t quite add up,” Seonghwa argued. “Even the Unspeakables would’ve at least reported some kind of intrusion, right?”

“I don’t know, what if the New Lord and his minions got rid of all the evidence before anyone could notice anything?” Mingi shrugged.

“Was there really enough time to get rid of every last trace, though?” asked Yeosang. “And what about the missing prophecy record? There’s no way all of that went unnoticed.”

San shook his head, his brows furrowed. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

“Me too. It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth…” Yeosang said, shuddering.

“No matter how I look at it, something’s being covered up here,” Hongjoong concluded.

“Would they really hide something as big as this just to save face though?” asked Yunho.

Seonghwa pursed his lips and nodded. “I’m not that surprised to be honest. The Ministry of Magic has done far worse than this in order to save face.”

Another heavy silence settled over them. Wooyoung wasn’t completely sure how to feel about this. And if he was completely honest… he was scared.

Scared of what would be next.

Hongjoong was first to speak up again. “One more thing. I hate to ask you this, Wooyoung, and I wouldn’t do it if it wasn’t so important, but,” he hesitated for a moment. “the prophecy those people talked about… You heard it, right?”

Wooyoung tensed up, so San protectively pulled him closer. “Come on, do we need to discuss that right now?”

“No, it’s okay,” Wooyoung told him. “Yes. I heard it. As soon as I touched the prophecy record.”

A serious look on his face, Hongjoong leaned in closer. “Can you tell me what it said?”

“Hongjoong – ”

“I’ll write it down for you,” Wooyoung said definitely.

He ignored the glare San directed at Hongjoong and pulled out a piece of parchment and his writing feather from his bag before scribbling down the prophecy with slightly shaky hands. He then handed the piece of parchment to Hongjoong, who read the prophecy to the others, just loud enough for all eight of them to hear.

“Light can bend the future and light controls the time. But darkness has the power and darkness will decide. When the second comes to die and the third one is born, both will find each other and form the vital bond. Light and dark go far beyond to fail or succeed together,” he read.

They all remained silent as they let the words sink in.

“Interesting…” Seonghwa commented.

Hongjoong nodded. “Agreed.”

“I have no idea what any of this means but… I sure am glad those people didn’t get to hear it,” Jongho spoke up.

“Yeah…” Wooyoung said, averting his eyes.

“A-Anyway, on a more positive note,” Yunho spoke up, eager to change the topic. “Mingi, what ended up happening to your prank on the Gobstone Club?”

Mingi perked up in surprise after being addressed so suddenly. “Huh? Oh, that. Well they spent about two hours freaking out about the plate-sized spiders before they managed to get Professor Knotts to turn them back into Gobstones for them.

“Oh, yeah!” San laughed, “But I heard their leader, Shin Hyunmin, found one of the spiders in his bed later and completely lost his shit.”

“For real? Man, I wish I could’ve been there to see it. That’s what he gets for being such a snitch,” Jongho snickered.

Wooyoung looked back and forth between them, confused. “Wait, what did the Gobstone Club do?”

“Right, you wouldn’t know. We tried to steal some broomsticks from the locker rooms down at the Quidditch pitch so we could fly to London to save you, but we got caught because the Gobstone Club Leader snitched on us. Yunho and Jongho even got detention because of it.” Yeosang explained.

“We had to clean all the cauldrons in the Potions classrooms, and we weren’t even allowed to use _any_ magic” Yunho added while fake sobbing, causing Hongjoong to reach out and pretend to wipe some tears off his cheeks.

Wooyoung looked around at all of them. “You went through that much trouble for me?”

“What, did you think we were just a bunch of losers? Of course we did! We would’ve thrown over the government to get you back!” Jongho grinned confidently.

Wooyoung had to laugh. “You guys are unbelievable.”

“Yeah, unbelievably awesome!” exclaimed Hongjoong.

“And you were in on it too, Seonghwa?” Wooyoung asked. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I think you’re not cool or anything, but I just didn’t think you’d be on board with breaking the rules like that.”

Seonghwa sheepishly scratched the back of his head. “Let’s just say I’d decided to rearrange my priorities for a while.”

Mingi gasped dramatically. “‘For a while?’ Does that mean you’re just gonna go back to being a mama’s boy now? After everything we’ve been through?”

Seonghwa shot him a glare. “No, but it means that now that Wooyoung is safe, I won’t hesitate to focus on my studies again.”

“But you’ll still hang out with us from time to time, right?” Wooyoung asked him.

“Yeah, you broke the law with us, dude!” Mingi grinned. “Bold of you to assume that you could ever get away from us after something like that!”

Seonghwa laughed. “I guess I have no choice if you put it like that.”

“How very cute,” Hongjoong grinned. “I can truly feel the domestic Christmas spirit manifesting in our midst.”

“Ah, right. There are less than three weeks left before Christmas vacation starts!” Yunho realized with a smile. “I can’t wait to spend some time with my parents and my brother again.”

“I’m also going home over the holidays,” said Jongho. “This year I’d actually love to stay in Hogwarts, but I know that my mom will be disappointed if I don’t come home. What about you, Yeosang?”

“Me? I’m staying here this year. The castle is so beautiful during Christmas season. And I don’t wanna deal with family drama for once.”

“Same here,” Mingi said. “Except it’s because my parents are going on a trip to Russia to celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary.”

“I’m also spending the holidays here, just like I do every year,” Hongjoong shrugged and took a long sip of his butterbeer.

“So am I,” said Seonghwa. “It wouldn’t really make any sense to go home by myself when my mother will be here to work anyway.”

“And you, San? Going home as usual, I assume?” Mingi asked.

San shook his head, grinning. “Not this year, no. I will be spending the holidays at Wooyoung’s house.”

The others exchanged surprised looks, some of them hollering and causing Wooyoung to break into a grin as well.

Jongho smirked mischievously. “I sure hope your bed can handle his stay.”

Wooyoung jaw dropped in exasperation as Jongho and San high-fived across the table.

“Try not to get a noise complaint, though,” Hongjoong chimed in with that smug smirk of his playing across his lips. “I’m sure your parents wouldn’t be too happy about that.”

“Guys, stop!” Wooyoung grinned and covered his face, his cheeks heating up immensely.

“Also, definitely use protection,” Yunho snickered.

Luckily for Wooyoung, that was when their order finally arrived and everyone was too distracted by the food to tease him any longer.

A tall new glass of hot and steaming butterbeer was placed in front of each of them, followed by endless plates stacked with piles of all different kinds of –

“Chicken!” Yeosang exclaimed, slapping his hands over his mouth in surprise. His eyes widened with excitement at the sight of the abundance of chicken displayed in front of him. “I didn’t even know they served chicken here!”

“They don’t,” San chuckled. “ _Someone_ made a special order just for today.”

Yeosang furrowed his brows in confusion and suspiciously looked around the table. Jongho took a long sip of his freshly served butterbeer and examined the portrait of Albus Dumbledore hanging on the wall next to him as if it was the most interesting thing he’d ever seen.

Yeosang nudged his arm. “You! How did you…?”

“How I did it is a secret. Just enjoy the meal,” Jongho smirked.

Yeosang shook his head at him, seemingly speechless before pressing a brief kiss to Jongho’s lips.

An amused smile spread across Wooyoung’s lips and he couldn’t help but chuckle as he leaned into San’s side.

“But before we dig in, I’d like to give a toast,” San announced and lifted his glass of butterbeer as he stood up.

The others followed his example and lifted their respective glasses as well.

“To my love Wooyoung,” he started, “who we have successfully brought back to safety. May we cherish and protect him for as long as the stars are burning.”

Wooyoung met his eyes and bit his lip.

San smirked and raised his glass one more time. “Cheers.”

“Cheers!” the others exclaimed, and they all drank from their butterbeers before diving into the world of chicken.

Wooyoung ate so much he felt like his stomach was going to burst, but he couldn’t care less. He had never had a more beautiful evening in his life, and he realized how lucky he truly was to have six amazing friends – and one amazing boyfriend - who would do anything for him and who he’d do anything for.

They stayed in the Three Broomsticks and laughed and talked until way past eleven, which is when Seonghwa’s sense of authority kicked back in and he convinced them all to head back to the castle.

It was already past curfew when they entered the entrance hall and went their separate ways.

Yeosang gave Wooyoung one last hug before he and Seonghwa headed for the tower their common room was located in, while Hongjoong, Yunho, and Mingi made their way back to the dungeons.

Technically San would’ve been headed in their direction as well, but he kept his arm around Wooyoung, telling Mingi to head back without him so he could take Wooyoung back to his dorm along with Jongho.

San held Wooyoung back by the wrist as soon as they had reached the foot of the Great Stairs. “Why don’t you go first, Jongho,” he suggested, “We’ll be right behind you.”

Jongho turned around and gave him a nod before wishing them both a good night and climbing up the stairs.

The two of them waited in silence until Jongho’s footsteps had faded into the night, leaving them alone in the dark Entrance Hall.

Wooyoung was first to break the silence. “What is it?”

San only smiled as he took both of Wooyoung’s hands in his.

Wooyoung smirked up at him and expectantly raised his eyebrows, causing San to look down to his feet.

His smile had turned a little bittersweet. “I’m just asking to make sure… are you okay?” he asked carefully.

“Of course I’m okay,” Wooyoung replied automatically. “I think I’ve never had more fun than I did tonight.”

“That’s good to hear.”

Wooyoung chuckled. “You can stop worrying about me. I’m doing fine and I have all of my friends protecting me.”

San returned his smile. “Sorry. I just can’t help it. Making sure you’re safe is all that’s on my mind.”

Wooyoung wasn’t sure what to reply and simply returned San’s gaze.

“I don’t want to leave you alone tonight,” San admitted, letting go of one of Wooyoung’s hands in order to gently caress his cheek.

Two weeks ago, he probably would’ve said that in a flirty tone while smirking suggestively, trying to get a rise out of Wooyoung, but today he sounded serious and worried.

Wooyoung reached up to San’s hand that was cupping his cheek. “Then don’t.”

San considered him for a moment, and Wooyoung almost melted under the sweet look he had in his eyes as he did.

“Okay,” San decided eventually.

Wooyoung’s smile widened. “Then let’s go,” he said before leading San up the stairs and towards the Gryffindor Common Room.

Jongho and Wooyoung’s other dormmates already seemed to be fast asleep when the two of them arrived in the sixth-year boys’ dorm.

They were, however, greeted by Darong, who had quickly stretched and gotten up from her sleeping position next to the fireplace in the center of the circular room in order to do so. Wooyoung quietly set down his bag to pet his cat as she circled around him excitedly.

“Jongho took care of her while you were gone,” San informed him in a whisper.

“I’m glad he did,” Wooyoung replied with a smile. He truly was lucky to have his friends.

They quietly washed up, changed into their sleepwear – San had settled for one of Wooyoung’s oversized Chudley Cannons shirts – before they got comfortable on Wooyoung’s bed and drew the deep burgundy curtains around them.

San laid out one of his arms, inviting Wooyoung to cuddle up against his side. He then protectively wrapped his arms around Wooyoung as soon as he’d laid down with him and pulled the warm blanket over both of their bodies.

Darong also jumped onto the bed and immediately curled up into a ball right next to them.

Wooyoung could feel his own body relax against San’s. He let his head rest on San’s chest and took everything in. His warmth, his scent, the sound of his heart beating, and his chest slowly rising and sinking…

They stayed like this in comfortable silence for Merlin-knows-how-long, San softly petting Wooyoung’s hair and Wooyoung drawing aimless patterns into San’s side.

For the first time in more than a week, Wooyoung felt completely safe.

“San,” he whispered.

San hummed in response as he continued to gently stroke Wooyoung’s hair.

“I love you.”

San chuckled and hugged him closer. “I love you too, Wooyoung.”

Wooyoung smiled to himself and closed his eyes.

He was already about to drift off to sleep when uneasiness struck through his mind. An uneasiness that successfully drove away that calm and peaceful feeling San had given him.

It cut right through that mental protection Wooyoung had built around himself, just like some kind of sword, and suddenly Wooyoung was back in that chair down in the Hall of Prophecies, screaming for his former Professor to make the pain stop.

_They were so unimaginable horrible, those waves of pain that ran through his body and dug their way through his bones._

_“Say it! What does the prophecy say?”_

_No, he couldn’t. No matter how many times he’d ask, Wooyoung couldn’t let him know. He… couldn’t…_

_More pain. Nothing but pain. Everything around him had become melting hot pain. It was like zoning in and out of reality, he forgot where he was, who he was, why he was alive…_

_“Please… Make it stop… I’ll… do anything…”_

“What’s wrong, darling, are you okay?” San asked in a whisper, causing Wooyoung to snap out of it.

Wooyoung’s breath was hitched and his heart was racing, but he tried his best not to show it too much. He knew how worried San was for him, and he couldn’t put that burden onto him. At least not all of it. He just couldn’t. Not after everything he’d done for him.

“What do you think they are going to do next?” Wooyoung whispered.

“What?” asked San.

“Those people… what are they going to do next?”

“I-I don’t know, baby. I really don’t know…”

Wooyoung sat up a little bit, using his elbows for support. “I have to tell you something,” he whispered.

San met his eyes, looking more worried than ever but listening attentively.

“I didn’t want to admit it in front of the others earlier but…” Wooyoung took a deep breath before continuing. “Those people… they know part of the prophecy.”

“Hm? But how…?”

“Because they…” Wooyoung’s throat grew dry. “They tortured the beginning of it out of me… Do you think they know what it means? Even I don’t know what it means.”

“Wooyoung…” San whispered. He let his free hand soothingly caress Wooyoung’s back in an attempt to calm him down. It worked a little.

“I should’ve been stronger than that,” Wooyoung continued. “Merlin only knows what they’re going to do with that information… who else they’re going to hurt.”

“Don’t think like that. It’s not your fault. You _were_ strong. You were strong enough to live through all that all by yourself until we found you. Other people would have given up right away, but you didn’t. You did everything you could to stop them,” San reassured him and continued to stroke his hair. “It’s me who should’ve been faster.”

Wooyoung shook his head. “Don’t say that. You’re the sole reason I’m still here.”

The two of them fell into another silence in which San pressed a kiss to the crown of Wooyoung’s head.

“What are they going to do next…?” Wooyoung repeated. He couldn’t help but wonder if they were going to try to take him again.

He looked up at San once more. His soft features were lit up by the warm glow of the fireplace. Looking at him did allow a little bit of ease back into Wooyoung’s mind.

San softly let his fingers graze over Wooyoung’s cheek as he considered his words. His eyes became a little unfocused as he thought of the right things to say. Wooyoung simply watched him.

San thought about it for more than a minute until he finally seemed to have made up his mind. His expression became dark and determined as he looked into Wooyoung’s eyes.

“I don’t know. But something tells me that this is only the beginning.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You've reached the end of Timeless!
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! I sincerely hope you enjoyed the ride. As you've probably already realized, this book is part of a series, which means there will be a Timeless II! However, since I put so much passion into writing this, it will probably take some time before I post it. But I hope to see you there again! I can promise you a whole bunch of Woosan (now that they're together again), more development for Jongsang, a resolution for Yungi, the beginnings of Seongjoong, and of course a lot more action with the New Lord and his cause!
> 
> But before you leave, I have one favor to ask of you! There hasn't been too much feedback in the comments, but I'm really curious about how you guys feel about Timeless! *So* I prepared a short feedback questionnaire! It's right here >>> https://forms.gle/zgdaUN8urTBUEZkVA <<< and I would love it if you took the time to take a look at it <3
> 
> Anyway, that's all! Have a great day and stay safe! Leave a comment if you like or check out the feedback questionnaire, and I will see you in Timeless II! 
> 
> All the love from staylovely <3 (@vitaminjongho on twitter or @staylovely on instagram)

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> This work is now also available on Wattpad! If you'd like to read it there, this is the link:  
> https://www.wattpad.com/story/241276679-timeless 
> 
> Feel free to follow/tweet at me via @vitaminjongho on twitter ~


End file.
